


The Girl that had No Heartbeat

by authors_bane



Category: Outer Banks (TV), Outer Banks - Fandom, obx - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Found Family, Love Triangle, Multi, Mutual Pining, Pining, Pirate AU, Shared Bed, Siren OC - Freeform, jj is a simp for the mermaid girl, mermaid au, mermaid oc, mermaids in the outer banks?, more likely than you think, pirate oc - Freeform, pretend cousins, siren au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:40:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 45,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24403714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/authors_bane/pseuds/authors_bane
Summary: The waves were too rough the day that JJ founded himself drowning. Luckily for him, there was a mysterious creature lurking beneath the waters who was looking for a chance to escape.When the girl emerged from the ocean, there were gills on her neck and she had no heartbeat. They thought she was dead. But when she woke up and started talking about pirate ships and mermaids and her extraordinarily long story, the Pogues realize they have something big on their hands. They take her in a develop an elaborate scheme to keep her away from any scientist who would want to carve her open or billionaire who wanted to put her on display.But schemes always have holes in them. How long will it take before theirs falls apart?
Relationships: JJ (Outer Banks)/Original Female Character(s), Kiara & Pope (Outer Banks), Kiara (Outer Banks)/Original Character(s), Rafe Cameron/Original Female Character(s), Sarah Cameron/John B. Routledge
Comments: 12
Kudos: 31





	1. The Girl

The first wave crashed into JJ with a startling force. The second snapped the tether keeping him attached to his surfboard. He tumbled under the water, the current pulling him down and out deeper into the ocean. All he could think of as the water pounded against him, keeping him down, was that he was going to drown and no one would know what had happened to him. He tried to kick his way to the surface, but by the time the waves stopped beating down on him, he wasn’t sure which way was up.

Suspended in the open ocean, his mind starting to dull as his lungs screamed, JJ remarked to himself how peaceful it all really seemed. He could barely hear the waves up above, as the ocean continued its usual pattern. His presence didn’t disturb anything in the end. The waves still crashed against the shore, the wind still blew through the trees. Everything was at ease in the face of his death.

So he thought.

He was seconds away from opening his mouth, letting the water flood into his lungs. There was no point in prolonging what he already knew was coming. He knew this day was coming, but now that it was here, he wasn’t sure he was ready to die.

There was someone else in the water who agreed with him.

Just before JJ gave in, a girl swam up to him. Her hair was dark as the night, billowing out around her. JJ tilted his head to the side at the sight of her. He was sure he had never seen anyone so beautiful before.

_Hold on to me. _A girl’s voice whispered in his head. He heard it clear as day, but the girl in front of him wasn’t moving her mouth. She grabbed him around the waist, tucking her arms under his and took off toward the surface.__

__JJ had never moved so quickly through the water in his life. He knew that there were people who could swim quickly, but to swim this fast carrying another person, that should be impossible. He saw the light from the surface approaching and when he glanced down to the girl’s face, he saw something in her eyes that looked like...grief._ _

__As they were nearing, he felt the girl push harder, her face set in stone._ _

__When they finally broke through the surface, it was like shattering through glass. JJ felt his body leave the water and then slam against the shore, coughing and spluttering water out of his lungs. He flipped himself onto his back, waves lapping at his feet. He looked back to the water, which was now even wilder than before. If the girl was with him when they left the water, she should be somewhere. But he was the only one on the beach and the tide was rising steadily. He lay there for a few more minutes, waiting to see if her body washed up on the shore. But there was nothing._ _

__She was gone._ _

__***_ _

__“You’re crazy,” Pope said the next morning as he walked beside JJ on the very same beach._ _

__“I’m telling you, the girl saved my life,” JJ told him. “You believe me, right Kie?”_ _

__Kie turned around, walking farther ahead with John B. She smiled at JJ and nodded._ _

__“Course I believe you.”_ _

__“What did she look like again?” John B asked from the front._ _

__“Well,” JJ said, rubbing the back of his next. “She had, like, hair? And this face, I mean, wow.”_ _

__“Hair...and a face,” Pope said with an “over-it” kind of expression. “Great.”_ _

__“I didn’t really have the time to check her out since I was, I dunno, dying!”_ _

__“You really can’t remember anything, bro?” JJ shook his head._ _

__“Real helpful, JJ,” John B said, running a hand through his hair._ _

__“Give me a break!”_ _

__“Guys,” Kie called, yards ahead of them._ _

__“It’s not like we had anything else important to do today,” JJ grumbled, kicking a piece of driftwood._ _

__“My dad wanted help today and now I gotta spend all of tomorrow doing it because we’re chasing after a hallucination!”_ _

__“Guys!” Kie cried out before JJ could respond. “I found something.”_ _

__JJ ran over to where Kie was, pointing away from them. At first, it was nearly impossible to see, but as the wind shifted, they could all see what looked like fingers buried in the sand._ _

__“Oh my God,” John B breathed. JJ took off toward the body, Kie right on his tail. When they got to the body, it was half-buried in the sand. It was obvious from what little of the body that peaked out through the sand that it was a girl buried there. All four of them dropped to their knees, trying to dig her out of the sand. Once they had her half unburied, Kie yelled at them to stop._ _

__“What, Kie?” JJ asked, continuing to scoop sand away from her legs. Kie grabbed his wrist, stopping him from going any further._ _

__“She doesn’t have any clothes on, JJ,” Kie said._ _

__“So?” JJ shook his head as John B and Pope stood slowly._ _

__“How would you like it if you washed up on shore naked and woke up to a group of girls staring down at you?”_ _

__JJ considered it for a second, tilting his head to the side. Kie glared at him and swatted at his hand._ _

__“I’ll finish unburying her. Just, give me your sweaters of something,” Kie said. JJ huffed and stood, walking over to where Pope and John B had turned their backs. All three of them pulled off their sweaters and tossed them backward toward Kie. She got the girl fully out of the sand, rolling her onto her back before laying the sweaters over her._ _

__“Okay,” Kie said, kneeling beside her._ _

__JJ spun around and looked at the girl. He recognized the hair first, black as the night. Her eyes were closed, so he couldn’t tell if it was the same startling green, but from the rest of her face, he knew it had to be her._ _

__“That’s her, yeah. That’s the girl that saved my life,” JJ said, looking up at Pope and John B. Pope knelt down beside her, pressing his fingers to her neck._ _

__“What are you doing?” John B asked, standing behind Pope._ _

__“Checking for a pulse.”_ _

__“JJ,” Kie said, pushing herself to her feet. “If this is the girl that saved you then she’s been out here since last night.”_ _

__“What are you saying?”_ _

__“There’s no pulse,” Pope said with a sigh before Kie could say anything else. Pope dropped his hand back into the sand, looking up at JJ._ _

__“What?”_ _

__Kie and JJ turned back to the girl, looking down at her._ _

__“There has to be,” JJ said, locking his hands behind his head. This girl did not die for him. She couldn’t have._ _

__“You want to come down here and check yourself?” Pope snapped. “Look, man, I’m sorry-”_ _

__“What the….” John B kneeled down slowly, looking at her neck._ _

__“What is it, John B?” Kie asked._ _

__“Her neck.”_ _

__“What is that?”_ _

__“There’s no way.”_ _

__“You’ve got to be kidding me.”_ _

__“Are those...gills?”_ _

__Once the word was actually said, Pope stood up and backed away, eyes wide._ _

__“No way. That impossible!”_ _

__“You look at her neck and tell me those aren’t gills, Pope.”_ _

__“It’s scientifically impossible,” Pope said, shaking his head, hands tense._ _

__“Guys, look,” Kie said, pointing at her neck. As they all watched, horrified, as the gills on the girl’s neck began to close, starting to look more and more like normal skin with every second._ _

__“What the actual hell?”_ _

__“If her body is doing that then she must still be alive!” JJ said._ _

__“You don’t know that,” Pope said, still standing a few feet away, arms crossed._ _

__“We can’t just do nothing,” JJ said._ _

__“For once, JJ’s right,” Kie said, nodding her head slowly._ _

__“Thank you, Kie!” JJ put his hands on his hips._ _

__“What can we possibly do to help her...it...her,” John B said, glancing between JJ and Kie and the girl._ _

__“We could give her mouth to mouth,” JJ suggested. Kie scowled up at him. “What? I’m serious.”_ _

__“That might work,” Pope said, wagging a finger and stepping closer again. “I mean, if she’s used to breathing underwater with gills, then she’ll need help breathing air.”_ _

__“So, who gives her mouth to mouth?” John B asked._ _

__“I should do it,” Pope said, raising a hand. “I know what I’m doing.”_ _

__“No way, dude!” JJ protested. “She saved my life, now I’m going to save hers.”_ _

__“No one wants to wake up from being unconscious and see your face, JJ. It should be me,” John B said, crossing his arms._ _

__“Bullsh-”_ _

__Kie rolled her eyes, ignoring the boys as they argued over who was going to give the pretty fish-girl mouth to mouth. Kie had CPR training, she was probably the only one who actually know what she was doing. Without alerting the boys, Kie pinched the girl’s nose, tilted her head back, and put her mouth against the girl’s lips. She let out deep breaths, silently begging the girl’s body to take them. If JJ was right and this girl had saved his life, Kie knew he would never forgive himself if she died. Kie wasn’t going to let that happen._ _

__The girl’s eyes snapped open first. Then she gasped in a deep breath, sitting up so suddenly that Kie shrieked and fell backward. All three of the boys turned around, startled by the gasp and Kie’s scream._ _

__The girl gasped, sucking in shallow breaths. Her eyes were wide as her chest heaved, fists curling around the sand._ _

__The Pogues stared at her, none of them moving as she sat there, heaving. Slowly, Kie moved forward. She didn’t want to terrify the girl, but Kie knew that she would want to cover up before she exposed herself to the boys. JJ looked like he was going to step forward, but when Kie sent him a sharp look, he decided against it._ _

__The girl pulled her legs up to her chest, shivering against the cold morning air. All three of the boys’ sweaters had fallen off when she sat up, laying now by her feet. Kie grabbed one, JJ’s, and inched it closer to the girl, holding it out for her to take. When the sweater was by her knee, the girl finally looked up. The intensity of her sea-green eyes sent a chill down Kie’s spine, but she didn’t move. The girl slowly untensed her hand, lifting it from the soft sand to take the sweater from Kie’s hand._ _

__No one breathed. The boys watched from behind as the girl’s breathing started to slow, Kie sitting, nearly unmoving, just inches away from the strange girl.  
Once the girl pulled the sweater over her head, Kie sent another look toward the boys, giving them permission to move once again._ _

__“My name is Kiara.” Kie spoke gently, slowly, unsure if the girl even spoke English. “Do you understand English.”_ _

__The girl nodded her head once, trembling still. Kie smiled at her._ _

__“Okay. What’s your name?”_ _

__The girl looked down, giving her head a short shake._ _

__“You don’t know?” Another shake. “That’s alright.”_ _

__“We should get her somewhere warm,” Pope said, startling the girl again. She turned around suddenly, backing away from the boys, her breathing speeding up once again._ _

__“You’re alright,” Kie said, hands out to stop her from backing into the ocean. “These are my friends.”_ _

__The girl looked at each of the boys in turn. First Pope, who had spoken. He looked afraid, like the basis of everything he knew had just been shattered out from underneath him. The girl understood how he felt. She looked at the second boy, John B. He didn’t look afraid. Far from it. If anything, she thought he might want to dissect her, to figure out how she worked and what she was doing here. He looked at her and saw a mystery that he wanted to solve._ _

__But then she saw the last boy. His face was instantly familiar. She remembered seeing him floating there in the water, his eyes wide and unafraid. She could hear the ocean call from inside of him, the same call that pulled her to the ocean long ago. At the sight of his face, a smile tugged at the girl’s lips._ _

__“It’s you,” she breathed, her voice raspy from years of unuse. “You’re the boy in the water.”_ _

__And then she passed out._ _

__***_ _

__“She is hot thought.”_ _

__“God, JJ!” Kie dropped her head into her hands._ _

__“This is the first known interaction between a hominid-fish species and humankind and the first thing you do is check her out?” Pope sounded appalled, but he wasn’t really surprised. It was JJ after all. The girl lay in the back of their van, her head resting in Kie’s lap. She was curled up in JJ’s sweater with another blanket draped over her. Still, she shivered while she slept._ _

__“Should we tell someone we found her?” John B asked. “I mean, someone could be missing her.”_ _

__“What would we say?” Pope asked, turning to John B from the front seat. “‘Oh, hey, we found this girl on the beach. Do you know anyone that might possibly be missing their fish-girl?’”_ _

__“Besides,” JJ added, rolling a blunt mindlessly between his fingers. “We talk about her to anyone, next thing you know, the suits are pulling up and taking her away to experiment on her or whatever.”_ _

__“She’s safer with us,” Kie agreed, gently running her fingers through the girl’s soaking wet hair._ _

__“Where can we take her?” Pope asked._ _

__“My house,” John B said._ _

__“Why your house?” JJ asked, scowling._ _

__“Because you barely live at your own house and Pope and Kie have actual parents who would probably turn her in if we brought her there. My house is pretty much the safest place for her.”_ _

__“What, so you can have her around all the time? I don’t think so,” JJ laughed._ _

__“Dude,” John B looked at JJ in the rearview mirror. “I just want her to be safe is all.”_ _

__They pulled up to John B’s house, moving as quietly as they could, but nothing about any of the boys was very quiet ever. JJ opened the side door and Kie helped him get his arms underneath the girl. He pulled her out of the van as Kie made sure that the blanket was still wrapped around her._ _

__JJ carried her toward the house while Pope and John B attempted to throw as many things into hiding places as they could._ _

__“Put her on my bed,” John B said, pushing open his bedroom door. JJ complied without complaining, setting her down on the bed._ _

__“Keep the blanket over her,” Kie said from the doorway. They pulled the blankets on John B’s bed over her. She continued to shiver violently._ _

__“We need more blankets,” Pope said, running back to the front room to grab the blankets off of the futon that JJ usually slept on. He threw them on top of her, tucking them underneath her as best as he could. They all watched her, but she didn’t stop shaking._ _

__“It’s not helping,” John B said._ _

__Kie stammered for a bit, pressing her fingers against her temple._ _

__“Uh, yeah, John B go boil some water and Pope, find a balloon or something. If we can get heat in by her feet it might help.”_ _

__John B and Pope rushed off to do as Kie told them. JJ stood by the bed, his mind running a mile a minute. Here was the girl who had risked so much for him, dying from the cold. He remembered the look on her face as she pulled him to the surface, the look of sadness, sorrow. He wondered what she had left behind to save his life._ _

__JJ wasn’t going to let this girl die. Not after what she did._ _

__He threw the blankets back and crawled into the bed beside her._ _

__“What are you doing?” Kie asked, moving to shove JJ out of the bed._ _

__“Body heat,” he said. “We’ll share it. You too.”_ _

__Kie raised her eyebrow at him, but she knew he was right. The shared body heat might just keep her alive. Kie slid into the bed on the other side of the girl. With the girl sandwiched between Kie and JJ, they felt her shivering slowly start to fade. Kie watched JJ grab the girl’s hand underneath the blanket._ _

__“She’s so cold,” JJ said, his voice quiet as if he was afraid to wake her up._ _

__“If she really is a fish person,” Kie said and then cleared her throat. “I imagine going from the water to the air was a huge shock to her system.”_ _

__JJ nodded his head, curling an arm around the girl’s waist._ _

__Pope and John B came running in with a balloon full of hot water._ _

__“What-uh,” John B said. “What’s going on here?”_ _

__“Body heat,” JJ and Kie both said at the same time._ _

__“Put the balloon under the blanket near her feet,” Kie said. “Then find a spot and get your asses under this blanket.”_ _

__“We won’t all fit on the bed,” John B said as Pope did what Kie told him to._ _

__“Do you want her to die?” John B shook his head quickly. “Then get under the damn blankets.”_ _

__It was a tight squeeze to get everyone under the blankets and onto the bed, but they somehow managed it. Kie wasn’t really sure if two extra bodies were helping any, but she could feel the girl start to shake less and less._ _

__It took almost an hour for her shaking to go away completely. No one spoke the entire time, each of their hearts pounding with worry. If she died, then there would be a lot of explaining to do. Besides, she had saved JJ, which meant they all owed it to her to do everything they could to save her in return._ _

__Once Kie was convinced that the girl was no longer trembling, she tapped Pope on the arm._ _

__“I think she’s okay,” Kie whispered. Pope let out a quiet groan. Kie rolled her eyes. Had he really fallen asleep? “Pope?”_ _

__Pope groaned again but rolled off the bed, allowing Kie to get up. When she walked around the other side of the bed, John B was laying on his back, staring at the ceiling. He made eye contact with Kie and she gave her head a short nod. He sat up slow and moved his legs off the bed._ _

__“JJ,” Pope whispered, but JJ didn’t stir. “JJ!”_ _

__“I think he’s asleep,” John B said._ _

__He was right. JJ breathed softly, his arm dangled over the girl’s waist. Even with three fewer bodies, the girl still remained warm._ _

__“We should go,” Kie said. “Try and figure out what we’re going to do about her.”_ _

__“What about JJ?” Pope asked. Kie looked back to the bed._ _

__“Let him sleep.”_ _

__***_ _

__The girl woke up first. Her eyelids felt heavy, but she peeled them open anyway. The room she was in was unfamiliar to her. She lay in a bed…._ _

__A bed. She couldn’t remember the last time she slept in a bed. So, saving the boy from the ocean hadn’t been a dream. She had made the decision. She left her brothers and sisters under the ocean and now she was stuck on land until she died. There was no going back for her._ _

__A tear rolled from her eye, running down the bridge of her nose and dropping onto the sheets beneath her._ _

__She tried to remember the sound of Ira’s voice, her favorite sister. Ira was the prettiest of all of her sisters and because of that, she had the most kills. When the girl had first joined their family, Ira took her in, showed her the ropes. The girl would miss her sister, but for all her beauty and kindness and talent, Ira was still a murderer, like the rest of them. And the girl couldn’t take it anymore._ _

__She had every intention of leaving the ocean for land, but she didn’t have the means to do it until she saw the boy floating in the water. He was going to die, she couldn’t leave him. And she couldn’t save him without leaving the water. By saving him, she knew what she was leaving behind._ _

__Her mind was running through her time beneath the surface, trying to hold onto the little things she loved about all of her brothers and sisters. Lost somewhere in her memories, she felt someone shift beside her._ _

__The girl startled, sitting up quickly. She hadn’t realized that she was in bed with someone else. She tried to think back to what she could remember after she left the ocean. There was nothingness for a long while, just warmth. And then there was a girl and the boys on the beach. And then it was cold...so unbearably cold. That was it. She couldn’t remember anything else._ _

__When she looked over, there was a boy beside her. He was asleep on his stomach, his hands underneath the pillow. She couldn’t see his face because it was shielded by his long, blonde hair. The girl tilted her head to the side and leaned toward him to brush the hair from his eyes._ _

__As soon as her fingers grazed his skin, his eyes shot open. He sat up almost as quickly as she had, his arm covering his head._ _

__“No!” He called out, palms facing out toward her._ _

__“I’m...I’m sorry,” the girl said, voice still weak. “I will not harm you.”_ _

__Slowly, the boy lowered his arms, eyes fixed on her. He dropped his hands suddenly into his lap, the look of fear on his face turning into a smile._ _

__“Hey!” He said. With his hair out of the way and his hands no longer shielding his face, the girl finally recognized him as the boy in the water._ _

__“It’s you,” she said again, the same smile pulling at her lips again. He had survived._ _

__“JJ,” he said, offering out his hand. The girl shook it with a smile. When she didn’t say anything, JJ narrowed his eyes ever so slightly. “What’s your name?”_ _

__The girl shrugged her shoulders._ _

__“I need to pick a new one,” she said as if everyone just randomly picked new names every now and again. JJ’s scowls deepened and he moved off the bed, standing by the door._ _

__“Hang on, let me get my friends,” JJ said. He stood and the girl nodded her head slowly, pulling her hands into the sweater she still wore. “She’s awake!”_ _

__It took only a few seconds for the three others she remembered from the beach to flood into the room. The one who looked afraid, the one who wanted to solve the mystery, and the girl who saved her._ _

__“Hello,” she said to them all, smiling._ _

__“Damn,” the fearful one said. Pope, she remembered his name was. “She is beautiful.”_ _

__The girl felt her cheeks heaten as she looked at her hands._ _

__“What happened to not hitting on her?” The girl, Kiara, seethed at Pope, slapping his arm with the back of her hand. Turning her attention back to the girl, Kiara lowered herself onto the edge of John B’s bed. “How are you doing?”_ _

__The girl smiled and nodded her head._ _

__“I appreciate all that you have done for me,” she said._ _

__“Is there something we can call you?” Kiara asked. The girl shook her head._ _

__“I have had two names in two different lives. But now I am on my third and final life so I need a new name.”_ _

__Pope sighed and put his head in his hands. There was that fear again. The girl knew that her existence did nothing but shatter his version of reality. The more she spoke, the more she would continue to do that._ _

__“What do you mean?” Kiara asked, her voice gentle._ _

__“I lived a human life long ago. They called me Anthea then. Anthea Steelheart. And then I became one with the sea and I joined my brothers and sisters. There they called me Apa. Now I have left the sea, never to return, and I must take a new name.”_ _

__“We...we’ve never met someone from the sea before,” Kiara said, confusion evident in her voice. “Will you explain how it works?”_ _

__The boys stood in confusion; JJ with his arms crossed, Pope with his eyebrows pinched together, and John B with his eyes narrowed in thought. The girl smiled and nodded her head. When she opened her mouth, her story began._ _

__***_ _

__Anthea Steelheart was born to Captain Amarylis Briarheart and her husband, Cael Stoneheart, aboard their ship, The Iron Anchor. She grew up among the scum of the earth, the scallywags and the heathens, the lords of the sea. They were her family and she would do anything for them._ _

__She got her last name by the age of 13, when she ran a man through with a sword. She carried the name ‘Heart’ from birth, but when she killed the man who was threatening the life of the cook with no hesitation, her parents gave her last name the prefix “Steel”. She worked alongside her mother and father, stealing cargo from European ships, cargo that was actually people._ _

__They were boarded one day by a British ship in retribution for stealing the passengers from one of their own. The Iron Anchor was overrun by British soldiers looking for punishment. Anthea watched the Commander of the British ship kill her father, watched as he went for her mother. There was no way Anthea was going to watch her mother die. So she ran at the British soldier, sword ready. The fight didn’t last long before she had his sword in her belly._ _

__She was dying. She was going to die. But she wasn’t going to die without taking the man who killed her father with her. She hooked her arm around his, stabbing her own sword through his stomach, pulling them toward the edge of the ship. She heard her mother scream, heard the British calling for their commander. But it was too late. The two of them tumbled overboard and into the deep ocean._ _

__Down, down, down they fell into the blue. Anthea watched the life drain from the Commander’s eyes. She could see her own blood swirling around her, light draining from her vision. She didn’t want to die, she didn’t want her life to end here._ _

__That’s when she saw it, the face in the water. It wasn’t the face of one of the men thrown overboard. It was a woman with a face like an angel. She approached Anthea, swimming up to her effortlessly._ _

___Do you want to live? _Her sing-song voice whispered in Anthea’s head. Anthea nodded as best she could. The woman took her by the hand dragging her deeper and deeper into the water until there was only darkness.__ _ _

____When she awoke, all she felt was numb. She didn’t realize that she would spend the rest of eternity feeling nothing; no cold, no warmth, no pain. Even when she thought of losing her father, of never seeing her mother again, didn’t bring her pain. She never once cried about it._ _ _ _

____They called her Apa. She was one of their best. With eyes like the sea itself and hair black as night, there were few who could resist her. She killed to feed herself and her family and it ate away at her day after day._ _ _ _

____Anthea knew the cost of returning to the surface. Once again live a mortal life. Never set foot in the sea again upon pain of death. Never see your brothers or sisters again. She knew the price and she took it anyway._ _ _ _

____***_ _ _ _

____“You left your...family for me?” JJ asked once she finished._ _ _ _

____The girl nodded her head a few times, twisting the blankets in her hands._ _ _ _

____“I suppose so,” she said._ _ _ _

____“She has a higher body count than you do, JJ,” John B said, laughing at his own joke. Kiara threatened to kill him with her eyes._ _ _ _

____“We have to come up with a name for you,” Pope said as Kiara and John B argued about whether or not it was appropriate to joke about killing people and having sex. JJ was silent._ _ _ _

____“I would love a name,” the girl said._ _ _ _

____“Should we stick with ‘A’ names? I mean you’ve got Anthea, Apa….” Pope offered, sitting beside the girl. She tapped her chin with her finger._ _ _ _

____“We could, but there are so many letters in the alphabet to chose from,” the girl said. Pope could see her mind whirring with possibilities. There were a million names in the world, but which would work for her?_ _ _ _

____“We could go simple,” John B said. “Something like...Sarah!”_ _ _ _

____“No,” Kiara said instantly, her voice harsh. “That’s a stupid name. What about Emma?”_ _ _ _

____The girl tested out on herself for a moment. Emma. Emma. Eventually, she shook her head._ _ _ _

____“What about something Greek, like Amphitrite?”_ _ _ _

____“That’s a dumb, Pope,” John B said. “No one would know how to pronounce it.”_ _ _ _

____“Okay, so Athena,” Pope offered. “She’s a boss ass bitch who doesn’t take shit from anyone.”_ _ _ _

____The girl’s eyes widened, a smile pulling up her lips._ _ _ _

____“You have the mouth of a sailor, Pope,” she said as she leaned forward. “My parents expected me to keep my mouth clean, but I’ll tell you a secret. Around the other sailors, I had the worst mouth of all.”_ _ _ _

____The boys smiled at her. Kiara letting out a sigh._ _ _ _

____“Athena was also the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy,” Kiara said. “It might be fitting.”_ _ _ _

____“I knew a pirate by the name of Athena,” the girl said, sitting straight once again. “She was, in fact, a ‘boss ass bitch’ as you would say. I would feel strange taking her name.”_ _ _ _

____“Okay,” Kiara said. “What about something space-y, like Jupiter?”_ _ _ _

____The girl shook her said instantly. Her father had been the navigator on their ship, always talking about the stars and space, stacks and stacks of books about the universe covering his corner of their cabin. She couldn’t bear to carry the weight of one of the names her father loved so much._ _ _ _

____A few more names were thrown around that the girl didn’t really like. Her heart was starting to sink when none of the names stuck. She hadn’t been there for the name deciding process of her parents and she hadn’t known the process for choosing names amongst her siblings. Things seemed to be going sour, until JJ finally spoke up._ _ _ _

____“What about Mera?” He asked, lifting his head. Everyone looked up at him. “I read it in a comic once.”_ _ _ _

____The girl considered it, mulling it over in her head._ _ _ _

____“A comic book name, JJ?” Kiara asked. “Isn’t that a little...strange?”_ _ _ _

____“I like it,” the girl said suddenly, meeting JJ’s eyes with a smile. “Yes. Mera.”_ _ _ _

____JJ smiled back. He shot a look at Pope, who glared at him._ _ _ _

____“Mera,” Kiara said and it was then that the girl knew the name was right for her. She wanted to hug JJ, hug them all, but she knew that she wasn’t wearing pants and if the world was anything like it was when she left, pants were often required before you hugged someone._ _ _ _

____“Thank you,” she said, looking around at the others. “For saving my life and then giving me my name. It is more than I could ask for.”_ _ _ _

____The four of them smiled down at her, a warm feeling spreading in her chest at the sight of them._ _ _ _

____“It’s no problem. You’re one of us now,” Pope said._ _ _ _

____“Yeah,” John B continued with a smile. “Welcome to the Pogues, Mera.”_ _ _ _

____She wasn’t sure what a pogue was but somehow, it felt like family._ _ _ _


	2. Ice Cream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Pogues take Mera out on the town where she meets a few...friends.

“You hungry?” JJ asked when the silence went on for a little too long. Mera nodded her head slowly.

“I’m gonna go drive by my house to get some clothes,” Kiara said, standing. “Will you be okay here?”

Mera nodded again. She remembered what it was like the first time meeting all of her siblings. They hounded her, asking questions, pulling at her hair, dragging her off to a feed only hours after getting her gills and tail. While similar, this felt different, better than that. Mera knew that these people were concerned for her as a person and not just another set of fangs.

Kiara shuffled out of the room, leaving Mera with the three boys, who all stiffened suddenly.

“What, uh, what do you like to eat?” JJ asked, rubbing the back of his head.

“I’m not sure. I’ve eaten nothing but human flesh for a very long time,” Mera said. As soon as the words came out of her mouth, Pope’s eyes widened and John B covered a laugh with his fist. “I only mean to say that I am unfamiliar with the foods you eat here.” 

“I’ll whip you something up,” John B said, sending a wink her way. Mera smiled as he left, looking back at the remaining two boys.

“I’m sure you have plenty of questions to ask me,” Mera said, straightening her back. She knew how humans were. They liked to ask questions, to understand things. She knew this when she made her decision to return.

“I was going to say the same thing to you.” Pope slowly sat on the edge of the bed. “Why don’t we take turns asking questions?”

“That’s a stupid idea, Pope,” JJ huffed. But Mera nodded her head eagerly.

“I would love to play this game.”

Pope sent JJ a look that said “who’s stupid now?”

“You ask the first question,” Pope said, looking back at you. Despite his apparent dislike for the questions game, JJ sat in a chair and listened intently.

“What year is it?” she asked. The question had been on her mind since she woke up. It was impossible to tell how much time truly passed beneath the sea. Mera had sisters who had been alive for centuries. A part of her hoped that she may still have some relatives alive, but by the progression of the world and its technology, she didn’t hold out much hope.

“It’s 2020,” Pope said. He opened his mouth to ask a question, but JJ interrupted him.

“Do mermaids have sex?” He asked, leaning forward in his chair.

“Dude!”

“What? I’ve always wanted to know.”

Mera smiled, the tips of her cheeks turning pink. 

“I am not used to speaking about such things so openly, but no. Mermaids, as you call us, reproduce only by turning other humans,” Mera said. “As we are immortal, there is no need to reproduce as humans do.”

“I am so sorry about him,” Pope said, holding out his hand as if to shield Mera from JJ’s entire being.

“Hey, it was a serious question,” JJ said, slapping Pope’s hand away.

“Are you kidding me?” Pope spun around to slap JJ’s knee in retaliation. “We are having a conversation with a real-life mermaid and you ask her about sex?”

“Well, what do you want to ask her, Mr. Suit?”

“I’m not a suit, JJ.”

“You’re acting like one.”

“And you’re acting like a douche, did you know that?”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah, really.”

Mera watched in increased interest as the two bounced insults off each other, taking turns slapping at each other’s hands. Humans were so unusual.  
John B returned not long into their prolonged argument with a plate of food.

“This is for you,” he said, offering the plate to her and completely ignoring the slap fight going on between his friends. John B jumped onto the bed, stretching out his legs alongside Mera, who delicately picked up what looked like a sandwich.

“How long have you been a mermaid?” John B asked, tossing an oddly shaped piece of thin bread into his mouth.

“I became a mermaid in 1667,” Mera said, looking up to the ceiling in hopes that it would help her mental math. “And if the year is 2020, then I have been under the sea for 353 years.”

John B choked on whatever it was he put in his mouth, partially turning on his side to look at her better.

“Really?” He asked, still coughing. “That long?”

Mera nodded. She lifted the sandwich to her mouth and took a tentative bite, JJ and Pope still arguing in the background. Mera pushed down the desire to shove the entire thing in her face. When she lived beneath the ocean, there was nothing delicate about the way they ate. Living as a pirate, she had the same fate when it came to food. She was unsure whether or not times had changed since then.

There was nothing overwhelmingly delicious about the sandwich she ate, but Mera had long ago forgotten what real food tasted like. Even something so simple as bread, lettuce, and some kind of slimy meat made her moan with delight.

“This is amazing,” she mused with a grin. John B’s smiled perked up. 

“You think so?”

Mera nodded her head up and down, taking another large bite. Despite her best efforts to eat calmly, she had gulped the entire thing down in a few bites. When she was finished she sucked in a deep breath and smiled.

“Thank you, John B,” Mera said, setting the plate in her lap.

“There’s more where that came from, Mera,” he said. She shook her head.

“I can’t take anything more from you,” she said with the wave of her had. “You have provided so much for me already.”

John B blew air through his lips, offering the bag of the flat bread to Mera.

“Take anything you want,” he said. Mera smiled again, sticking her hand inside the bag and pulling out whatever was inside, inspecting it carefully. “These are called chips.”

“Chips?” 

“Yeah. Fried potatoes.”

“Potatoes?” Mera looked at the chip in her hand, wondering how on earth they made this out of a potato.

“Go on, try it.” She was slightly wary of John B’s smile. She was more than familiar with pranks. The crew of The Iron Anchor had a habit of pulling them constantly, especially on her. John B wore the same mischievous grin as they usually had before something blew up in her face.

But when she put the chip in her mouth, she found that there was no prank. It was salty and crunched when she bit down on it. Her eyes widened at the taste of it.

“You like it?” He asked her, his smile growing. “There are about a hundred different flavors and a million different brands.”

“Flavors?”

“Like barbecue, sour cream, vinegar.” 

“I have truly missed many very interesting inventions,” Mera said. John B offered another chip, which she took gladly.

“Oh, just you wait.”

Once Pope and JJ finally finished their argument, Mera was deep in conversation with John B about the different kinds of foods that she had missed out on. Pizza sounded like something she would especially like. John B looked over to find Pope and JJ intently trying to listen in, so he decided to include them back into the conversation. 

“Did you know that Mera is 353 years old?” He said. Pope’s mouth fell open and JJ choked out a cough. 

“Pardon?”

“Actually,” Mera said, swallowing the piece of chip that was in her mouth. “I am closer to 369 years old. I became one with the ocean when I was 16.” 

“Wait, you died at 16?” Pope asked, eyebrows furrowed. Mera shook her head.

“No, I never actually died. I just put of mortality for a couple hundred years,” Mera said, as if it was the most natural thing to occur. JJ scoffed, leaning back in his chair.

“That doesn’t sound too bad,” he said.

Mera narrowed her eyes at her hands, feeling an uncomfortable pressure suddenly build up near her heart.

“There were downsides to being immortal,” she said, chewing on the inside of her cheek.

“Like what?” John B asked, picking a bottle off of the counter to drink.

“I had to watch my mother mourn for me and my father on the same day, unable to comfort her. And the worst part was, I’m not sure I even wanted to comfort her.” Tears suddenly gathered in her eyes. “There is a numbness when you become apart of the sea. I couldn’t feel physical pain, but I couldn’t feel the emotional pain either. I have never mourned for my father, nor my mother, nor my crew. It felt so... empty.”

The boys were quiet, unsure of how to comfort the girl in front of them. Mera spent a few moments silent, her eyes narrow and eyebrows pinched, nose threatening to run. Eventually, she shook her head and looked back up with a smile.

“Then, of course, there is that fact of tearing the flesh off of humans to eat,” she said with a playful grin. John B paled, suddenly aware of how close to Mera he was sitting. JJ pushed himself upward.

“Anyone want a beer?” He asked, moving his finger across the room to point at each of them. Pope shook his head, chin pressed against his hands.

“I’ll take one,” John B said.

“Mera?”

“Is it like ale?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“Then yes, I would like one.”

“Cool.” JJ tapped his knuckles on the doorframe as he left the room. For some reason, watching him leave made Mera somehow feel exposed.

“Mera,” Pope said, finally dropping his hands. “Why did you leave the ocean?”

Mera heaved in a deep breath before letting it out as a sigh. There were too many reasons to condense into one simple response. Her mind searched for a way to explain it, but no good answer came to mind.

“I always felt called to the sea,” she said, speaking slowly. “Even as a young child. My mother said that it was a part of my heart. I thought when I joined the sea that I would be completed, like that void I always felt would disappear, but it only deepened. I knew that whatever I was searching for couldn’t be found on the ship I lived on and could not be found where I was under the water. Pair that with being haunted by the screams of drowning men and the lack of feeling, I saw no other choice.”

Pope bobbed his head up and down slowly. He said nothing else and neither did John B. The room was quiet until JJ returned with three beers. He tossed one to Mera, which she caught. He was about to offer a bottle opener when she broke the neck of the bottle off. Careful of the sharp glass, Mera took a long swig, oblivious to the agape jaws and wide eyes of the boys around her.

Pulling the broken bottle away from her, she smacked her lips a few times, scowling.

“This beer tastes very different from the ale that I am used to,” she said, before looking back at the boys. Her scowl fell and she lowered the bottle. “What?”

“You just...the bottle,” JJ said, pointing at her hands. Mera’s cheeks flushed.

“I guess the strength has yet to wear off,” she said. That meant there were going to still be side effects of leaving that she had yet to feel.

“You had super strength too?” JJ turned in a circle, hands over his eyes. “I want to be a mermaid so bad.”

“I’m telling everyone you said that,” John B said, pointing a finger at his friend. Pope laughed, leaning back. Mera smiled as she watched the friends interact. They reminded her of her crew, whom she remembered like she had left them yesterday. Maybe that was why she felt like she fit in with them so well. It was like she never left home.

“So, Kie, Pope, and I came up with a plan while you were asleep,” John B said, pushing himself into a straighter sitting position. JJ looked away from Mera, remembering where he was when that conversation took place. The world Mera came from, it was shameful for a woman and a man to sleep in the same bed if they weren’t married. She had hoped that in the world was full of things like beer bottles and pizza that the stigma and shame would have passed on.

“It’s a pretty good plan,” Pope said, pulling Mera back into the conversation. 

“Plan for what?” She asked. 

“For keeping you here, with us,” John B said, as if it was that obvious. “And before you say something about being too much, we know that you have nowhere else to go and this world is incredibly different from the one you left. We want to help you.” 

Pope bobbed his head up and down in agreement. Mera felt a strange feeling build up inside her, her eyes beginning to sting. She recognized the feeling almost instantly; joy. Mera fought back the tears, not wanting to cry in front of her new friends. She swallowed a lump in her throat and nodded.

“What’s your plan then?” She asked.

“Alright,” John B said, leaning forward. “We tell everyone that you’re my cousin, Uncle T’s daughter. My Uncle T is supposed to be here taking care of me right now, but he’s not so we’ve got to pretend that he is. We’ll say you were living with your mom and the mainland but wanted to spend a summer with your uncle and your wonderful cousin. That’s me.”

JJ rolled his eyes, but Mera nodded slowly.

“Can you not live alone?” Mera asked him. “Why must ‘Uncle T’ be your guardian?”

John B cleared his throat, a sad look falling on his face. The other two boys looked at their feet and Mera instantly knew she had said something wrong.  
“My dad is missing,” John B finally said. Mera’s heart sunk. She understood all too well how losing her father felt. “And since I’m not 18, I can’t live alone without a guardian.”

Mera scowled. She placed her hand over John B’s in an attempt to comfort him, a movement that caught the attention of all in the room. She retracted her hand, cheeks turning pink.

“Where...where I’m from,” she said, trying to cover for herself. “Many were married before they were 18 and living lives all their own. I myself have been betrothed to a pirate lord since I was ten and was expected to marry when I became a woman.”

Mera had wished that it would be comforting, but it clearly just made the boys uncomfortable. She thought it best to hold her tongue on matters of the past for a while, at least until she was asked questions. She had no desire to make the boys any more confused or unnerved.

“Well,” Pope said, trying to finish what John B had been saying. “You’ll want a job so you can survive out here. John B works with the Camerons up at Tannyhill-”

“Tannyhill?” Mera asked, perking up and immediately forgetting her vow to stay silent.

“You know it?” JJ asked.

“Yes, my family had dealings with Denmark Tanny for years.”

“I keep forgetting you’re like a million years old,” JJ said, putting a hand over his eyes.

“369,” Mera corrected. JJ dropped his hand and gave her a smile.

“Right.” 

“The plan?” Pope’s voice drew Mera’s attention away from the blond and his smile.

“I’ll introduce you to Ward Cameron,” John B said. “You just smile at him and I know he’ll give you a job.” 

Mera nodded her head.

“You’ll stay here with John B,” Pope continued. “You’ll work with Ward Cameron and we’ll just keep going about our daily life.”

“And that’s the plan,” John B said, putting his hands behind his head.

“I like this plan,” Mera said. “But you’re sure I am allowed to stay? I don’t mean to be a burden.”

“It’s no problem,” John B said, waving his hand. “Like I said, you’re a Pogue now and Pogues help out Pogues.”

Mera couldn’t help her grin. The front door opened and Mera jumped, pulling the blanket tighter around her.

“I’m back!” Kiara yelled through the house. When she showed up in the doorway, she had a bag in each hand. “I have some clothes and some food for you, Mera.”

“Thank you, Kiara,” Mera said.

“You were a pirate, right?” JJ asked, pulling Mera’s attention away from Kiara.

“Yes.”

“But you talk like a rich kid.”

“JJ, c’mon,” Kiara said, giving him a look that reminded Mera of her mom. 

“It’s alright, Kiara.” Mera turned to look at JJ. “My parents wanted me to be able to speak with British officials without my vernacular giving me away.”

“Vernacular?” JJ breathed under his breath to Pope, who leaned back and whispered a quick definition.

“And then I spent more than 350 years with my brothers and sisters who all spoke in a variety of different ways and in many different languages. This is the one for me that felt the most fitting.”

“Wait, how many languages do you speak?” Pope asked, an interested grin on his face.

“Hang on,” Kiara said. “Let’s save questions until after the girl has some clothes on.”

“I like what she’s wearing now,” JJ said, with a grin. Mera felt her cheeks heaten again, a small smile on her face.

“All of you get out,” Kiara said, a disgusted look on her face.

“This is my room,” John B protested nonchalantly. “I think I should be able to stay.”

“Nope!” Kiara said, shouting over the boys before Mera could hear the arguments they made for who got to stay in the room as she changed. “We’re all going out to the front so she can change, yeah?”

The boys grumbled. Mera was grateful for Kiara and her ability to round up the boys when she needed to. It was a talent that Mera respected. Mera’s mother became captain of The Iron Anchor because of her skill to round up the crew, even at their rowdiest. They respected her, followed her no matter what. If Mera wasn’t mistaken, Kiara played a similar role amongst the Pogues.

Kiara herded the boys out of the room like cats, shutting the door behind her. Mera was now alone for the first time. She sat there, unmoving for a while, trying to see if being alone was something she liked. She never had before, but maybe she did now. After a few minutes, Mera decided that she did not like being alone and it was the last place she wanted to be. She dug through the clothes, pulling out a long pair of pants and what she assumed were undergarments. It was hot out, but there was nothing outside of the long pants that Mera could see herself wearing.

When Mera emerged from the bedroom, she was wearing a pair of Kiara’s jeans and a blue tank-top, feeling more than exposed. JJ’s sweater was in her hands as she shuffled toward her new friends.

“Hey!” Kiara said when she caught sight of Mera. “You look good!”

“Thank you,” Mera replied, sheepish. “I don’t know who’s sweater this is, but thank you for letting me borrow it.” 

“Keep it,” JJ said, arms crossed as he leaned against the countertop. “I got a million more back home.”

Mera smiled, still feeling awkward and uncomfortable in the clothes she was wearing.

“We were thinking about going to town for a bit,” John B said, scuffing his feet on the floor. “Introduce you to some of our friends to get the word out there that you’re in town.” 

“If it’s alright with you,” Pope added quickly.

“That would be wonderful,” she said, bowing her head slightly. 

“Great!” JJ clapped his hands together and pushed himself off the counter.  
“I also brought a hairbrush for you,” Kiara said as the boys made their way to the front door. “I can brush your hair on the way there.”

Mera hadn’t thought about how haggard her hair much have looked. She wasn’t sure she wanted to think about it after spending the last hour surrounded by people. Kiara approached her with a smile and looped her arm through Mera’s, leading her toward the front door.

The van outside was unlike something Mera had ever seen before. She tried not to let it surprise her, but when Kiara gave her arm a squeeze, she realized that she wasn’t covering up her shock as well as she had hoped. JJ helped Mera into the back of the van, offering his hand to pull her in. She took it and he pulled her inside.

As soon as she was sitting with her back to Kiara, JJ let go of her and turned to look out the window. Mera watched him flex the muscles in his hand, feeling a tingle in her own.

Kiara took the bottoms of Mera’s hair, brushing the tangles out slowly. It was methodical, mind-numbing. Music bopped out of the radio, Pope, John B, and Kiara each taking turns talking at a million miles per hour. Mera tried to listen to what they were saying, but she found her mind turning back to JJ, sitting across from her, staring out the window.

“Your hair is so soft,” Kiara mused, running her fingers through Mera’s brushed hair. “Do you want me to put it back?”

“Could you braid it?” Mera asked.

“One or two?”

“Two please.”

The van shuddered to a stop just as Kiara finished braiding Mera’s hair. They all stepped out into the sun.

The sun. Mera lifted her face up to the sky, letting the heat from the sun beat against her skin. She breathed out as the wind rustled her hair. Mera hadn’t felt the kiss of the sun in far too long. A smile spread across her lips, soaking in the warmth, letting it ease the tension in her bones.

“There is no way anyone will believe that she’s your cousin,” JJ muttered from behind.

“Dude.”

“No, JJ’s definitely right.”

“Dude!”

“Who is this?” Someone asked from in front of her. Mera pulled herself from her trance and turned toward the voice. A boy stood beside her; tall, blond, wearing a pink collared shirt. Mera smiled at him and offered her hand.

“Mera,” she said. The boy shook her hand.

“Rafe.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“The pleasure is mine,” Rafe said with a wide grin.

“What are you doing here, Rafe?” John B asked, walking up and standing behind Mera. She could feel the tension between them and her smile fell. She knew well enough when an enemy had boarded ship to know that there was something going down between her new friends and Rafe. 

“Just talking to a pretty girl, here, John B. You got a problem with that?” Rafe asked. Mera felt her chest tighten, discomfort passing through her like ice.

“Yeah, I got a problem. She’s my cousin,” John B said, voice tight.

“There is no way she’s your cousin. I mean-” Rafe’s eyes scanned Mera’s body, instantly making her tense. She felt her breath hitch. “Damn.”

“Back off, Rafe,” JJ growled, standing beside Mera.

“I can talk to whoever I want, JJ,” Rafe snapped, his smile finally falling. Mera felt herself flinch. What was she doing, being afraid of a boy like this? She had fought and killed tougher man than him. She had dragged men to their deaths for hundreds of years. She had no reason to be afraid of him.

“There’s no need for a fight, boys,” Kiara said, Pope standing next to her by the van. “We’re just showing Mera around.”

“Mera, huh?” Rafe looked down Mera’s body again.

“Back off, man!” JJ said, starting to take a step forward. Mera’s hand shot out and grabbed JJ’s wrist to keep him from going any further. Never before in either of her lives had she let someone else fight for her. She wasn’t about to start now.

“I would really appreciate it if you would less us by,” she said, smiling up at Rafe.

“But we were just getting to know each other.” He reached out toward her, but before he got close, Mera slapped his hand away and jabbed the heel of her palm into his nose. He stumbled backward, blood dripping down his face.

“Shit!” John B put his hands against his forehead while JJ let out a burst of laughter.

“Mera!” Kiara cried out, stepping forward.

“What the hell?” Rafe coughed, blood pooling in his hands.

“Never touch a girl when she without her permission,” Mera seethed, leaning closer to Rafe on the ground.

“You are so badass,” JJ laughed to her from behind. Mera felt herself smile, but dropped it quickly.

“Let’s just go,” Kiara said, putting a hand on Mera’s arm. Mera looked away from Rafe and back over at Kiara, who was pleading with her eyes for Mera to step away. From the look on Kiara’s face, Mera could tell that this wasn’t the first time she had been forced to beg her friends to stand down from a fight. Mera didn’t want to be another burden on Kiara’s back.

She nodded once, looking back at Rafe for a few seconds, before stepping toward Kiara and Pope. John B and JJ followed after them as they walked away.  
JJ threw his arms around Mera’s shoulders, giving her a tight squeeze.

“That was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen,” JJ said, beaming.

“You handed Rafe his ass!” John B laughed. “You’re going to be my favorite cousin.”

Mera smiled at the two of them as John B tapped her shoulder with his fist, a feeling of pride burning in her chest.

“Look, Mera,” Pope said, stepping in front of her and putting a hand on her shoulder. “That was pretty sick back there and I’m sure Rafe deserved it, but this isn’t like your pirate ship. We can’t go around punching people. It’ll bring too much unwanted attention and could get you into some serious trouble.”

“C’mon, chief-”

“JJ, Pope’s right,” Kiara said. “You get too much attention and people will start asking questions. You have to lay low, Mera.”

The feeling of pride soured in Mera’s chest. She felt like she was being chastised by her parents and it wasn’t a good feeling. Still, she acknowledged what they were saying with a nod.

“Good, let’s go get some ice cream.”

***

“You didn’t like that boy very much, did you?” Mera asked JJ, taking a bite out of her ice cream.

“Oh, jeez, Mera,” JJ said, cringing. “You don’t bite it. You gotta lick it.”

“Lick it?”

“Yeah.” 

“Oh.” 

Mera watched how JJ was eating his ice cream and mimicked him. It was much more pleasant to her teeth than biting it.

“No, we don’t really like Rafe,” JJ said finally, once Mera got the hang of her ice cream.

“Why?”

“He’s a kook, one of the worst.”

“I don’t understand that word. ‘Kook.’”

“They’re all filthy rich and the only one who gives two shits about the rest of us on this island is Kie.” JJ pointed his ice cream at Kiara as she ordered up at the front.

“I understand that,” Mera said. “My parents were born with nothing, forced to steal and beg for food, while the British lived comfortably in their big houses with their slaves.”

Her voice shook as she spoke, hands curling into fists.

“You know they got rid of slavery?” JJ said, licking the top of his round ice cream. Mera nodded.

“Many of my siblings were those lost at sea from the slave ships coming from Africa. And every new brother or sister we gained, they told us about the world above land as they knew it. Many of my siblings were sad to hear of the end of slavery for they feared it meant less food, fewer people willing to turn and join us,” Mera said and she shook her head. “But I saw those slave ships, I boarded them. The cargo we stole was people more often than not, human beings who did not deserve to be in chains.”

“You and Kie would get along really well,” JJ said. Mera scoffed softly, trying to pull herself from the memory she had dropped herself into. Kiara slid into a chair beside Mera, holding a cup rather than a cone.

“What kind did you get?” She asked Mera.

“Chocolate,” Mera said. “JJ said it was the best kind.”

JJ raised his eyebrows, biting into his waffle cone.

“One thing you should learn,” Kiara said with a playful tone. “Don’t ever listen to JJ. He’s constantly full of shit.”

“Hey!” JJ protested, but Mera nodded her head with a smile.

“Sounds good to me.”

By the time they all left the ice cream parlor, the rumor had already buzzed around that John B’s cousin was in town. A few people whispered to each other as the group of five walked past. Mera felt that same fear in her bones when Rafe was looking at her once again. Never before had whispers bothered her. She would keep her head high, walk on without a care. Apparently, she had changed much since joining the ocean.

A strange sound from behind startled Mera. She spun around and realized that she wasn’t the only one to tense. JJ, who stood behind her, stepped in front of her ever so slightly as a large blue and white truck with strange lights pulled up behind them.

“These are the police, Mera,” Pope whispered to her. “Law enforcement.”

Mera nodded, mouth running dry. Pirates and law enforcement had never gotten along. Maybe these _police _, as Pope called them, were more accepting of different kinds of people than in her time.__

__A woman stepped out of the front of the car._ _

__“John B Routledge,” the woman sighed, walking over to them._ _

__“What can I do for you, Sheriff Peterkin?” John B said and took a step toward her._ _

__“I heard you have a cousin in town,” the Sheriff said, looking at the group behind him. “That her?”_ _

__Mera put a hand on JJ’s shoulder. When he looked back at her, she nodded her head and he stepped out of the way._ _

__“My name is Mera, ma’am,” she said, putting out a hand for the Sheriff to shake.  
“Good to meet you.” _ _

__“I didn’t realize the police drop by every time family visits from out of town,” John B said, obviously tense. _Tread lightly, _Mera told herself.___ _

____“I’ve just never heard mention of a cousin from Big John or your Uncle Teddy.” The Sheriff rested her hand on her hip. “Just wanted to make sure nothing fishy was going on.”_ _ _ _

____Mera heard JJ cough over a laugh._ _ _ _

____“I’ve been living with my mom,” Mera said. “I haven’t had much contact with my dad in years, but he reached out, wanted me to come down.”_ _ _ _

____“Why now? On top of taking care of John B here, now he’s got his long lost daughter in town.”_ _ _ _

____“Is this an interrogation, Sheriff?” John B asked, defensiveness clear in his voice._ _ _ _

____“It’s alright, John B,” Mera said, putting a hand on his arm. “You see, ma’am, my dad wrote me and my mom a few months back, said his brother was missing. I didn’t even know I had an uncle, or a cousin. My dad said something about regrets and doing right by me, you know the drill. My mom has a lot of work and couldn’t come down, but it’s summertime and I wanted to see my dad and to meet my cousin.”_ _ _ _

____“And seeing your dad, how has it been?”_ _ _ _

____“He is very different than I expected.”_ _ _ _

____Mera smiled at the Sheriff, hoping that she wasn’t rusty on all of the things her parents had taught her about lying. With adults, be as innocent as possible. Smile, bat your eyelashes, make things sound worse than they are. And if it is a woman, rely on her maternal instincts. She’ll want to protect you, Mera, make her think she needs to._ _ _ _

____Eventually, the Sheriff dropped her hand from her waist and gave Mera a rather unconvincing smile._ _ _ _

____“It’s good to meet you, Mera,” the Sheriff said. “If any of these boys give you any kind of trouble, don’t be afraid to call me.”_ _ _ _

____“Thank you, Sheriff.”_ _ _ _

____“See you around, John B.”_ _ _ _

____When the Sheriff stepped into her car and drove away, Mera heard a collective sigh escape her friends behind her._ _ _ _

____“C’mon,” John B said. “Let’s get home.”_ _ _ _

____***_ _ _ _

____“Damn,” Mera whispered, spotting a brown stain on her jeans._ _ _ _

____“What’s up?”_ _ _ _

____“I got ice cream on Kiara’s jeans,” Mera said, chest tightening. “I didn’t realize it dripped the way it did.”_ _ _ _

____“It’s alright,” Pope told her. “You can just change.”_ _ _ _

____Mera’s lips twitched awkwardly to the side._ _ _ _

____“Don’t tell Kiara, I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but the other pants she brought are rather...short and I’m not used to wearing something like that,” Mera said, leaning forward toward the boys, afraid that Kiara would hear, even though she was outside on the phone. “I don’t mind wearing these. I once wore a blood-stained shirt for a week before we made it to port.”_ _ _ _

____“Don’t sweat it,” John B said, waving off what Mera said about the blood-stained shirt. “You can borrow something of mine.”_ _ _ _

____He turned away from the dining room and headed down the hall._ _ _ _

____“You guys have been too kind to me,” Mera said, looking back at JJ and Pope. “I don’t deserve this kindness or respect.”_ _ _ _

____“You saved JJ’s life, Mera. I think you deserve more than what we can give.”  
Mera felt tears sting in her eyes as she hung her head._ _ _ _

____“You don’t know the things I’ve done,” she said, her words trembling._ _ _ _

____“What do you mean?”_ _ _ _

____John B turned back around the corner, holding a pair of pants in his hand, completely unaware of what he walked into._ _ _ _

____“These are just a pair of sweats, but they’re clean.” He tossed them at Mera. She caught them and forced herself to smile._ _ _ _

____“I’ll be right back.”_ _ _ _

____Mera hurried off to the other room. As soon as the tight jeans were off of her legs, Mera let out a breath of relief. She quickly pulled John B’s grey sweats, pulling the elastic as tight as they would go. Walking back to the dining room, Mera had a smile on her face. These pants were much more similar to the trousers she once wore. It almost felt like being home._ _ _ _

____“How do you do it?” JJ asked, almost breathless._ _ _ _

____“Do what?” Mera asked, realizing that the sweats she wore had pockets. A wider smile spread across her face._ _ _ _

____“Nevermind.”_ _ _ _

____Kiara came through the front door, a frown on her face._ _ _ _

____“My parents won’t let me stay,” she said. Mera’s heart deflated. “I have a shift tomorrow morning and they want me home. I’m sorry, Mera.”_ _ _ _

____“Don’t worry, Kiara. I am fine staying here with JJ and John B.”_ _ _ _

____“Are you sure?”_ _ _ _

____“Yes,” Mera said. “You and Pope have a life to live that I have no desire to get in the way of.”_ _ _ _

____“We’ll see you at the party tomorrow night, though,” Pope said, pointing a finger at Mera._ _ _ _

____“A...party?”_ _ _ _

____“Yeah, we all get together at the boneyard, drink beer, dance, whatever,” Pope said._ _ _ _

____“That sounds like fun. I will see you at the party then.”_ _ _ _

____“I’ll take you home, Pope,” Kiara said. “Bye, guys.”_ _ _ _

____“See ya.”_ _ _ _

____Watching Pope and Kiara walk out of the house suddenly made Mera feel like a part of her was leaving with them. She watched the door shut behind them, watched Kiara’s car pull out of the driveway._ _ _ _

____“Are you good?” John B asked. Mera had almost forgotten they were there. She turned around, smile on her lips, and nodded._ _ _ _

____“Tired, I think,” she said, twisting her hands._ _ _ _

____“You can sleep in my bed,” John B said. “I’ll take the floor.”_ _ _ _

____“No, it’s alright. I’m used to a bed on the floor.”_ _ _ _

____“No, no, no, sweetheart,” JJ said, putting his hands on her shoulders and leading her off toward the bedroom. “A princess never sleeps on the floor.”_ _ _ _

____“JJ, I’m not-”_ _ _ _

____“You are tonight.”_ _ _ _

____Mera found herself once again in the bedroom._ _ _ _

____“We’ll be out there,” John B said. “If you need anything, just let us know.”_ _ _ _

____They were halfway out the door when Mera turned around suddenly._ _ _ _

____“I don’t want to be alone,” she blurted, taking a quick breath after she said it. The boys stopped and turned back around. “I can’t remember the last time I was completely alone.”_ _ _ _

____John B and JJ glanced at each other._ _ _ _

____“As your cousin, I wouldn’t feel right staying,” John B said and bumped JJ with his elbow. “He can stay with you.”_ _ _ _

____“You’re not her cousin, dude,” JJ said as John B started to pull the door shut._ _ _ _

____“Sleep tight!”_ _ _ _

____JJ and Mera stood awkwardly on opposite ends of the room. He shoved his hands in his pockets and she tucked hers under her arms, both refusing to look at each other. JJ cleared his throat, tapping his foot against the nightstand. Mera was regretting her decision to say anything at all._ _ _ _

____“Thank...thank you for staying,” Mera said finally. JJ looked up at her suddenly, shaking his head._ _ _ _

____“It’s no problem.”_ _ _ _

____“Well, um, I’m going to….” She pointed at the bed._ _ _ _

____“Yeah, of course.” JJ waved his hand toward the pillows, stepping out of the way. Mera went to the other side of the bed, crawling under the blankets._ _ _ _

____“You aren’t sleeping in your clothes, are you?” She asked him. JJ’s cheeks turned slightly red as he looked anywhere but at her._ _ _ _

____“No, but-”_ _ _ _

____“I want you to sleep comfortably,” she said, pulling the blanket up to her chest. JJ nodded his head slowly. When it was clear to Mera that he wasn’t going to move until she did something, she rolled onto her side, closing her eyes. “My eyes are closed, JJ.”_ _ _ _

____She heard him shuffle around, mumbling to himself about something or another. She finally felt the bed dip underneath him as he slid under the covers. Mera rolled onto her back, sitting so close to the edge, her arm practically dangling from the bed._ _ _ _

____“I have slept in closer quarters with men before,” Mera said into the darkness. “There is no reason to be uncomfortable.”_ _ _ _

____“Are you telling me that?” JJ asked. “Or yourself?”_ _ _ _

____Mera tensed her jaw, letting out a deep breath._ _ _ _

____“I’m not sure.”_ _ _ _

____There was silence again. Mera could hear the wind rustling the reeds and leaves outside, the water lapping against the dock, the sound of JJ breathing._ _ _ _

____“You said you were engaged.”_ _ _ _

____“Betrothed.”_ _ _ _

____“Yeah.” JJ let out a deep breath. “What was his name?”_ _ _ _

____“Jeremiah Hayne.”_ _ _ _

____“What was he like?”_ _ _ _

____“I don’t know. I never met him.”_ _ _ _

____“You were going to marry someone you never met?”_ _ _ _

____“That was the world I lived in, JJ. It was a treaty with him and his armada. We needed the extra aid, the ability to sail his waters.”_ _ _ _

____“Weren’t you...upset about it?”_ _ _ _

____“Not really. It was for the best of my crew.”_ _ _ _

____“Oh.”_ _ _ _

____“Do you have a betrothed?”_ _ _ _

____“God, no.” JJ let out a short laugh. “Anyone my dad chose for me would be the last person I would want to marry.”_ _ _ _

____“So there’s no one?”_ _ _ _

____“Um, no. Just me and the Pogues.”_ _ _ _

____“Kiara-”_ _ _ _

____“No. Kie and I tried it out a while ago. Didn’t work.”_ _ _ _

____“Oh.”_ _ _ _

____They fell silent again._ _ _ _

____“We should probably sleep,” JJ said. “John B is going to take you to Ward Cameron’s tomorrow.”_ _ _ _

____“Yes, of course.”_ _ _ _

____“Rafe is his son, so watch for him. I doubt he’ll say anything about how you kicked his ass, but just don’t go anywhere by yourself. Guy’s a psychopath, I swear.”_ _ _ _

____Mera smiled into the darkness._ _ _ _

____“I’ll be careful.”_ _ _ _

____“Night, Mera.”_ _ _ _

____“Goodnight, JJ.”_ _ _ _


	3. Peanut Butter Toast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A nightmare wasn't the best way to start her day, but with JJ there to soothe her, it wasn't so bad. After a quick breakfast, John B takes Mera to Ward Cameron's house, where she meets Sarah and Topper and runs back into Rafe Cameron.

The net tangled around her. Mera tried to pull it off of her, tried to tear the ropes with her teeth like she was used to, but these ropes wouldn’t break. She wasn’t underwater, but on land, standing in an empty field. The only one there was her. The only company she had was the suffocation of the net.

She had to get it off. If she didn’t get the net off, she knew she was going to die. If that was how it worked below the surface, that’s how it must work here.

_Free yourself _, Ira’s voice hissed in her ear. _Only you can get yourself out. _____

____“My friends will come,” Mera told the voice. “They will come and save me.”_ _ _ _

____She heard their laughter first. A smile spread across Mera’s face. She tried to turn toward the sound of their voices, but she couldn’t move. When she opened her mouth to call out to them, nothing came out. Panic started to settle into Mera’s chest as her breathing began to speed up._ _ _ _

____Her friends walked across the field and she finally caught sight of them. A smile spread across her face. Knowing she couldn’t call out to them, she pulled and pulled and pulled against the rope. With every ounce of effort she put into the rope, she felt the strength leave her body._ _ _ _

____To her horror, Mera watched as her friends walked right past her, not a hundred yards away. They laughed and joked and shoved each other, but they did not see her. Her cries were silent, her pleas unheard._ _ _ _

____“Please see me,” she begged, her mouth making no sounds. “Please help me.”_ _ _ _

____They walked farther and farther until they were no longer in sight. Eventually, Mera couldn’t even hear their voices anymore. She tried to pull herself from the net, but her energy was draining quickly. When even the weight of the net was too much for her, it pushed her down to her knees first, tears brimming on the edges of her eyes._ _ _ _

____“Come back.” Her voice was like gravel as the rope net pushed her farther and farther to the ground. “Don’t leave me.”_ _ _ _

____Once her face pressed into the dirt, she let out a quiet sob, finally letting herself realize that they weren’t coming back for her._ _ _ _

____“Mera,” a voice called to her. “Hey, Mera.”_ _ _ _

____“JJ?” She tried to lift her eyes, to find where his voice was coming from. “Help me. Please don’t leave me.”_ _ _ _

____“Wake up, Mera,” he said. She felt her shoulder shake. “I’m right here, just wake up.”_ _ _ _

____Mera squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head as the rope started to shove her deeper into the dirt, the earth swallowing her._ _ _ _

____“Help me,” she whimpered, barely opening her mouth as dirt started to bury her._ _ _ _

____“C’mon, Mera,” JJ’s voice said. “Wake up.”_ _ _ _

____The dirt covered her completely, pouring into her mouth, her nose, her ears. She could feel it tear down her throat, ripping through her stomach. She let out a quiet cry. There was no more light, just the darkness and the dirt and the rope digging into her skin._ _ _ _

____“Mera, you have to breathe.”_ _ _ _

____Mera shook her head. She couldn’t. She couldn’t breathe._ _ _ _

_____You cannot rely on your new friends _. Ira said, voice booming and ear-shattering. Mera moved to cover her ears with her hands. _You left us for them and look where you are now. ______ _ _ _

________“Mera!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Her eyes snapped open suddenly, sucking in deep gasps. A low light flitted in through the window, illuminating the floor bed around her. Trying to steady her breathing, Mera turned to find JJ looking down at her, a hand on her shoulder._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“You good?” He asked, sitting back as she pushed herself upward. Mera nodded slowly, her mouth dry._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Just a nightmare.” She ran her hands through her hair and tried to smile. “I haven’t had one of those in a long time.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“You got me good there,” JJ said, leaning his head against the headboard. “You stopped breathing for a bit.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I didn’t mean to scare you,” she said, trying to get her breathing to steady._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Nah,” JJ closed his eyes and shook his head. “I get ‘em too. What did you dream about?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Mera glanced up at him before looking back at her hands. She wasn’t sure if she should tell him that she was dreaming about him and his friends walking away when she needed them, after all they had done to help her. She didn’t want to sound ungrateful._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I was tied up in a net,” she said, breathing slowly. “I couldn’t get out. I tried to, but I got weaker and weaker until I was in the ground, choking on dirt. I couldn’t breathe.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________JJ nodded his head, lips twitching._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“The suffocating ones are always scary,” he said. Mera looked up at him again. She tried to remind herself that even if she saw him walking away in the dream, he was the one who had pulled her out of it. Whatever happened in the dream was a lie._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Rise and shine!” John B burst through the door with a smile on his face. When he saw them both sitting up, his smile faltered. “You’re awake?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________JJ cocked an eyebrow as he turned to look at John B._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Yes,” Mera said, sliding out of bed. “I will change, John B.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I can make something to eat,” JJ said, jumping up and pushing past his friend in the doorway._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“What was that about?” John B asked Mera as she dug through the bag of clothes for a shirt befitting meeting someone who would give her employment._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I had a nightmare,” Mera said. She saw no point in keeping secrets, especially from John B. He was her ‘cousin’ after all and she was living under his roof. “JJ was just trying to help.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________John B nodded his head slowly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I wanna talk about Ward Cameron real quick,” John B said, picking something off of the nightstand and fiddling with it._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“The man we are going to talk to?” Mera asked as she pulled off the tank top she was wearing. John B’s eyes widened and he looked back down, blushing._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I, uh, yeah.” He stammered for a bit, trying not to look up at her. Mera pulled on something that looked at least slightly fancy, not really noticing John B’s discomfort. “He’s, uh, rich guy numero uno, but he’s been pretty good to me since I started working there.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“He sounds respectable,” Mera said, untying the elastic on the sweats she was wearing. John B’s cheeks reddened even further and he turned around._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I really shouldn’t be here.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I thought you needed to talk about Ward Cameron?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Yeah, maybe when you have some clothes on.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Mera stopped in the middle of pulling the jeans back onto her legs. She cringed and finished pulling them on._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I’m sorry, John B. Privacy was not a luxury on my ship. I should have thought about it first,” Mera said._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“No problem,” he said, chuckling nervously and waving a hand through the air. “Just don’t go around taking your clothes off in front of other people, yeah?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Mera smiled at the back of his head._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Yeah.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“You decent?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Yes.” John B turned around. “Is this appropriate to meet Ward Cameron in?”  
John B nodded his head, trying not to stare for too long._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Now, we need to come up with a solid lie that we never go back on, alright?” John B walked across the room and threw an arm around Mera’s shoulders. “For example, where does your mom live?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I am unfamiliar with the current geography of the world,” Mera said as he led her out of his bedroom._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“So, let’s say California. It’s on the other side of the continent,” John B said, to which Mera nodded. “Next question. What does your mother do for a living? We have to think of something that would keep her from coming with you, so she always has to be busy.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Mera’s shoulders sagged. There was so little she knew about this world, how would she manage to ever get anything done? Even if she worked for Ward Cameron, there was no way she would know how to handle the technology the current world was surrounded by._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“What about a lawyer?” JJ offered as they walked into the dining room. When Mera looked up at him, he was spreading what looked like thick, brown butter across a piece of bread. “Lawyers are busy.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Good!” John B snapped his fingers. “Your mom is a defense attorney with cases stacked taller than her head so she couldn’t make the trip down.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Mera nodded her head. The words from her dream flitted back into her mind. _Only you can free yourself. _____ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________There was no way Mera would have ever survived if it wasn’t for these people, her friends. She would have died on the beach yesterday morning. Mera was slowly starting to realize that humans weren’t solitary creatures for a reason. They needed each other and she needed her friends, it was the only way she was going to get out of the net._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Defense attorney,” she said, her mood rising. “California.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“She needs a name,” JJ said, setting one piece of buttered bread down on a plate._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“What about Amarylis, after my real mother?” Mera offered._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“That could work,” JJ said, pointing the knife at John B. “My dad always says the best way to lie is to mostly tell the truth.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“There is very little truth going on here,” Mera said. JJ shrugged._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Amarylis…” John B mused, dropping his arm from around Mera’s shoulders and walking over to the table._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Cael,” Mera said, eyes fixed on the floor. “Her name will be Amarylis Cael.”  
JJ and John B glanced at each other._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“That’s fine by me,” John B said, hopping onto the table. “And that means that your name will be Mera Cael.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Mera smiled._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“I can live with that.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Perfect!” John B clapped his hands together “If Ward asks you any other questions just remember what you said to him and tell us later, so we don’t have any cracks in our lie.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Mera nodded as JJ turned around, balancing three plates of bread on his arm._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Peanut butter toast,” he said, offering a plate to Mera. “My specialty.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Thank you,” she said, taking the plate and sliding into a chair. Taking a bite of the toast, Mera was unsure at first what to think. The peanut butter was sticky and thick, making her teeth feel funny. But it was good. And the toast was just bread, but warm._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“This is good,” she said, covering her mouth as she tried to finish chewing. JJ smiled, chewing on his own piece._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“At least someone appreciates my cooking,” he said pointedly to John B._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“It’s toast, JJ. That’s not cooking.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Mera smiled again and continued to eat. There was a moment of silence between the three of them._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“How did you guys sleep last night?” John B asked, hiding a smirk by taking a large bite of his toast. JJ kicked John B under the table and Mera let out a laugh. John B kicked JJ back and soon enough there was an entire foot war underneath the dining table._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“I believe that it is time for us to go,” Mera said, rising with her empty plate._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“You gotta brush your teeth first, Mera,” John B said._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“My...teeth?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Yup.” John B stood, shoving his plate toward JJ. “I’ve got an extra toothbrush you can use.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________It was a strange situation for both of them. Mera had never brushed her teeth using a toothbrush before. Sure, they had things to keep her teeth clean and from falling out, but a toothbrush was completely foreign to her. It was strange for John B to be teaching a girl his age how exactly to use a toothbrush._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________By the time they came out of the bathroom, both of them were relatively uncomfortable. Mera’s mouth felt minty and strange as she shifted her jaw and ran her tongue over her teeth._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“We’re going to head out, JJ,” John B said, throwing up a hand to wave._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“See ya,” JJ said, not looking up at them as John B and Mera headed for the door._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Thank you for breakfast, JJ,” Mera said before she walked out. He turned to her with a smile, but she could see that it was forced._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Anytime.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________The sun shined down on her once she stepped outside. Mera took a moment to breathe in the light, the smell of the water. John B waited silently as she soaked it all in. She was able to step away after a few moments, following after John B again. When she looked back at the house, she saw JJ turning away from the window._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“You sit up front on that side,” John B said. Mera nodded and walked around the van. It was strange to her; made of orange metal, with small wheels made out of something that wasn’t wood. There were no horses to pull it along, no animal at all._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“It’s got an engine,” John B said, as if reading her mind or maybe just her facial expression. “It’s in the front and helps it go forward. I can explain more on the way.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Mera tried not to feel sick as the van sputtered when John B turned the key.  
The drive to Ward Cameron’s wasn’t as horrible as Mera thought it would be. With John B explaining how exactly a car worked, she realized that the feeling in her stomach was similar to the one she felt after months on the sea. She would just have to get used to it again._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“There is so much in this world I don’t understand,” Mera said, the wind blowing her hair around. “What if Ward Cameron asks me to do something I don’t know how to do?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“I’ll help you,” John B said. “We’ll figure it out.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________His vague optimism wasn’t really helping the queasiness of Mera’s stomach feel any better. Still, she appreciated his effort. When they pulled up to the house where John B worked, Mera immediately remembered what JJ had said about the kooks, the filthy rich. The word seemed fitting._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________The Cameron house was large and white, brooding over the small people who worked outside it. People owned houses like these while there were others on the street who had no roof over their heads. The thought rotted in Mera’s stomach._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“This way, Mera,” John B called from the other side of the van. She turned and followed after him, taking her eyes away from the large building. John B led her to the docks, toward what Mera assumed was a modern age ship. It was small and ugly, the sunlight glaring off of the white surface. She grimaced at the sight of it. If her mother saw what ships looked like now, she would roll in her grave._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Mr. Cameron?” John B called, cupping his hands around his mouth. In a few seconds, a man popped his head out of the presumed cabin, a smile on his face. His hair was short, a peppered beard on his face. He looked far too kind to be the captain of any ship. Ward Cameron walked over to the side of the boat, a smile on his face. Mera suddenly remembered what she was doing here and forced herself to smile despite her disgust._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“John B!” Ward Cameron said. “You’re here early.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Yes, Sir,” John B said and put a hand on the upper part of Mera’s back. “I wanted to introduce you to my cousin, Mera. She’s staying with me and my Uncle T.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Ward Cameron leaned down and offered his hand for her to shake. This form of greeting was much more common now than it ever had been before._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Ward Cameron,” he said. “Wonderful to meet you.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Mera Cael,” Mera said, her smile growing hearing the sound of her father’s name come from her own lips._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“So, you’re staying with John B?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Mera nodded._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Yes, Sir.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Why don’t you meet my kids, they’re just inside the boat. Come on,” Ward waved for them to step onto the boat._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Rafe won’t say anything,” John B assured Mera when she glanced back at him. He hopped onto the boat and then helped her climb inside after him. Even just standing on the boat felt like sacrilege. If Mera’s mother saw her now…._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“This is my son, Rafe,” Ward Cameron said. Rafe turned around and Mera was satisfied to see a bruise running over his nose._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“We’ve met before,” Rafe said, clenching his jaw. Mera didn’t let her smile waver. She kept her gaze steady, watching his eyes shift under hers._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Why didn’t you say anything, Rafe?” Ward Cameron asked, clapping his son on the back._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“It was a brief meeting, Mr. Cameron,” Mera said, tilting her head to the side. “Uneventful. He probably forgot it happened as soon as I walked away.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Please, call me Ward,” he said as he moved farther into the cabin. “Sarah, Wheezie! There’s someone I want you to meet.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Rafe tightened his fists once his dad’s back was turned, but Mera simply raised an eyebrow. She felt John B tense next to her, prepared for whatever was to come. But Mera knew boys like Rafe. They talked big and acted big, but beat them once and they generally never come for you again. Generally._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________A series of footsteps could be heard coming from down below. Ward walked up to Rafe again, a wide smile on his face. Two girls emerged from below deck. There was an older girl, who looked an awful lot like a sister Mera once had beneath the water, and a younger girl wearing what looked like glasses._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“This is Sarah and Wheezie,” Ward said. Mera finally broke eye contact with Rafe to interact with the girls._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“I’m Mera Cael,” she said, shaking both of their hands._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“How long did you say you were staying here for?” Ward asked. Mera breathed in a deep breath and then let it out. Lie by telling the truth._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“I’m not sure. We never really had a set date for my return home,” Mera said, glancing over at John B, who gave her a tiny nod._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Well, it’s wonderful to have you here, Mera,” Ward said. “Sarah, Wheezie, Rafe, why don’t you take Mera inside and show her around for a bit while John B here gets started on his work?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________John B opened his mouth to protest, but Mera spoke first._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“That sounds great,” she said. John B looked at her but she nodded her head. “It’ll be fine.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“JJ told me not to leave you alone,” John B muttered to her as the Cameron family started to shuffle around._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Have you ever listened to him before?” She asked, raising a brow. John B sighed, hands on his hips. “ I’ll be fine, John B.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“If you get your work done ahead of schedule, I’ll let you go early,” Ward said, his smile ever present. John B nodded his head, looking back at Mera one last time before following Ward back out onto the deck._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“So, Mera,” Rafe said, walking toward her. “Where are you from?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“California,” she said._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“You’re pretty pale for living in California.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“God, Rafe, don’t be such a freak,” Sarah said, pushing past her older brother to stand in front of Mera. “Forgive him, he’s been diagnosed with chronic jackass. I can lead the tour.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“That would be wonderful.” Sarah linked her arm with Mera’s and led her out. Mera sent a look back at Rafe, who glared at her, hands shoved into his pockets._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Sarah helped Mera off of the boat and didn’t wait for either Rafe or Wheezie before heading off toward the house. Mera spent half of the time wondering why it looked so familiar to her. Sarah showed her almost every room in the house, including all the rooms. Rafe tried to keep his door shut, but Sarah shoved it open._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“What are you hiding in here, Rafe?” Sarah asked with a mischievous grin as she stepped inside._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Sarah, get out of my room,” Rafe growled. It felt wrong to invade his personal space, rude as he was. Mera stood outside with Wheezie while Rafe tried to pull Sarah out of his room._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Did you do that to his nose?” Wheezie whispered to Mera. Mera looked down at her, mouth open. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. He did cry about it for a bit though.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Mera smiled, arms crossed over her stomach._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Are you really John B’s cousin?” Wheezie asked. “You’re way too pretty.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Mera tried not to say anything that would make things awkward, so she just laughed, looking down at her feet._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Yes, Wheezie, John B is my cousin. I do appreciate the compliment though,” Mera said with a wink._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Eventually, Sarah walked out of Rafe’s room. He slammed the door with a huff, glaring at his sister, who was still smiling like a little devil._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Let me introduce you to Rose,” Sarah said, taking Mera by the hand, leading her back downstairs. Wheezie followed close behind, Rafe dragging his feet. Rose, Sarah’s stepmom, was in the kitchen, pouring a glass of yellow liquid for herself. When she saw the kids walking in, Rose looked up with a smile._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Who’s this?” She asked, her lips painted in a perfect red._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Rose, this is Mera. She’s visiting from California,” Sarah said, sliding into one of the chairs at the bar. Mera was in awe of the kitchen they stood in. She recognized almost nothing inside, but she tried to cover up her shock._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“It’s a pretty kitchen, isn’t it?” Rose asked, a proud smile on her face. Mera looked back at her and nodded, flabbergasted. The gally of the pirate ship was the only kitchen Mera had ever seen, but this one was larger than the entire lower deck, it seemed. “It definitely cost a pretty penny.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Come sit,” Sarah said, patting one of the chairs beside her. Mera complied, startled when the chair started to swivel beneath her. She swallowed whatever surprise she felt and sat as still as she could so it wouldn’t move again._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Want some lemonade?” Rose asked, lifting the pitcher._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“I would love some,” Mera said, admiring the glass that the lemonade was held in._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Can I have some too?” Rafe asked, sitting on the other side of her._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“You’re a big boy, Rafe,” Rose said, her sweet words turning to poison. “I think you can get some for yourself.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Mera felt her stomach drop. She tried not to look at Rafe as Rose handed her the glass of lemonade. She wasn’t sure she wanted it now. Rolling the glass along its edge, Mera felt her cheeks redden. Without saying anything, she slid the glass closer to Rafe and looked up at him. When he finally lifted his head to look at her, she nodded toward the glass. Did she want to try lemonade? Sure, but there were a million other times she could try it. Sometimes, an olive branch can only be offered once._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________But Rafe didn’t take it. Instead, he stood up and stormed out of the room._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“What a drama queen,” Sarah said with a roll of her eyes. Mera felt the sour feeling in her stomach twist and push its way up into her throat. “Come on. Let’s go outside. You can bring the lemonade.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Mera followed Sarah outside, relishing the feel of the sun once again._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“What’s it like living with John B?” Sarah asked, tapping her finger against a glass of water. Mera breathed in._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“I’ve only been there a day,” Mera said. “But him and his friends have been wonderful.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“You mean the Pogues?” Sarah scoffed and took a drink of water. “Wonderful isn’t really the word I would use to describe them.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“They’ve helped me a lot since coming here. It is a different world than I’m used to. They took me in as if I was already one of their own,” Mera said, the need to defend her friends burning in her chest._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Look, Mera, I can understand why you feel that way.” Sarah put a hand on her elbow. “But believe me, they’re a bad crowd.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“And you’re better?” Mera hadn’t meant to sound so harsh, but Sarah didn’t take offense. Instead, the girl smiled at Mera with the same mischievous grin she had in Rafe’s room._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Hell no.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________They walked around the property for a bit, chatting about little things, their previous conversation forgotten almost instantly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“You said you don’t know when you’re leaving, right?” Sarah asked._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“No,” Mera said. “But I want to stay here forever.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Yeah, everyone does. Well, if you want, I can talk to my dad about getting you a temporary job here or something. I would love to have you around more, especially if it means getting you off the cut,” Sarah said, setting her glass on the porch railing. Mera ignored the jab at her friends and smiled._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Really? You would do that?” Mera asked. Sarah gave her a real smile, a kind one._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Of course.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Hey, Sarah!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Mera and Sarah both turned around to see another boy running over._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Hey, Top!” Sarah said. He walked up to them with a smile and threw an arm around Sarah. Mera stood by as he pressed his lips to Sarah’s. Mera tapped her finger against her glass and looked away, grimacing._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Top,” Sarah said, pulling away finally. “This is Mera. Mera, this is Topper.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Topper smile at Mera._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“It’s nice to meet you,” Topper said._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“You, too.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Mera noted how Sarah didn’t mention John B. That either said something about their relationship or Topper’s attitude toward the Pogues. The three talked for a bit, but it was filler talk. They had nothing else to talk about so they spoke to the weather, the end of school, and a number of meaningless things. With every passing second, Mera felt more and more uncomfortable._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Topper!” Rafe jogged out of the house and Mera almost felt relief at the sight of him. She would rather have a screaming match right here in the grass than listen to Sarah and Topper talk any longer. When Rafe made eye contact with her, he didn’t glare. Maybe he had seen the olive branch and, even if he didn’t take it, he understood it for what it was._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Rafe stole Topper away to “talk about dude things”, leaving Mera with Sarah._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“You wanna go for a swim?” Sarah asked. Mera felt her smile wobble, before pasting it back on._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“No, thank you. I don’t really have many clothes right now and I would hate to get these dirty,” she said. It was a partial truth, even if her clothes were the least of her worries when it came to the water. She wasn’t sure if she would even be allowed to put her feet in the ocean, let alone swim. It wasn’t like there was a manual for what a mermaid was to do once they left the ocean. Mera didn’t know her limits and she wasn’t sure she would test them right now._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Come on,” Sarah said. “You can borrow something of mine. It’s so hot out and-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“I really appreciate it, Sarah,” Mera said, tone hard. “But I don’t think I should be swimming right now.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Sarah’s smile fell for half a second, but eventually she nodded._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Yeah, of course. We can go back inside, play pool or something until John B is done on the Druthers.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Mera was grateful that Sarah didn’t push any farther._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________The room with the pool table was bigger than John B’s entire house. Mera had played pool once in England when she was trying to scam information about a slave merchant. She wasn’t sure she really remembered how to play. Luckily for her, Sarah was more than willing to teach it. Partway through their first game, Topper and Rafe walked in, sitting in the chairs. Topper, naturally, rooted for Sarah, being far more enthusiastic than needed for a pool game. Rafe, naturally, rooted against Sarah, meaning he was rooting for Mera._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________But Mera was losing. The one time she played pool, she played it horribly on purpose to get her target’s attention. She was starting to realize that maybe she wasn’t pretending to be bad._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________They had just started their third game when John B walked in._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Get out,” Rafe said, standing quickly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Relax, big man,” John B said with his hands in the air. “Just here for my cousin.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Hey, John B,” Mera said, brushing the blue powder onto the tip of her pool stick._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Hey, cos.” He walked around the table and bumped Mera’s shoulder with his. “Are you winning?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Definitely not.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Sarah, were you not going to tell me that she was John B’s cousin?” Topper asked, looking at Mera with narrowed eyes. Sarah looked like she was going to say something, but Mera spoke first, leaning against the pool stick._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Would you look at me differently if she had?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Careful, Top,” Rafe said, keeping his eyes trained on Mera. “She might hit you.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Mera glared down a Rafe._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Let’s postpone this game, huh?” John B said, offering a peaceful smile. “I’ll take Mera home.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Sure,” Mera said, setting her jaw and not looking away from Rafe. “Thank you for your hospitality, Sarah.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“I’ll talk to my dad,” Sarah said, taking the pool stick from her. “Just remember what I said about the Pogues, yeah?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Mera had no intention of doing that, but she nodded her head anyway._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“See ya, boys,” John B said as he led Mera out of the room. “Don’t let them get to you.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“I want to tear his face off.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Yeah, you’re not the only one.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________***_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Mera was still fuming when they got back to the house._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Hey.” John B hurried to catch up with her. “Slow down, Mera.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________She spun around quickly, furious tears in her eyes._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“They sit in their fancy houses drinking their perfectly clear water and lemonade, bashing you and the others, saying you’re bad news, no good. Yet they neglect their own. They have no respect for each other. They have no understanding of forgiveness or compassion or fairness. They are cruel, cruel people living at that house, John B, cruel.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Mera swallowed as she finished, sucking in a deep breath with her hands on her hips._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“I didn’t realize it bothered you that much,” John B said. Mera shook her head, covering her face with her hands._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“I was fine until they started talking about you and the Pogues. I just don’t understand. 350 years, millions of inventions and improvement, and yet the world has gone nowhere!” Mera let out a huff and dropped to the ground.  
John B tentatively sat beside her, almost afraid to get in the way of her fury._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“That’s just how it is here, Mera,” he said, voice soft. “That’s how it always is.”  
Mera sighed, tears gathered in her eyes from her frustration. When she looked at John B, he smiled and she felt the anger start to disappear. She heaved out a sigh._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“So what do you do when everyone else is at work?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________It wasn’t until the sun went down that the rest of the Pogues returned. JJ climbed out of Kiara’s truck with a large, metal barrel, a grin on his face._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“What’s in there?” Mera asked John B, setting his hackey sack down on the ground._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“A bunch of alcohol.” John B looked at her with a half-grin._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Hey, Mera!” Kiara said, jumping out of the car. Kiara threw her arms around Mera’s neck and gave her a tight hug._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“How was the Cameron abode?” Pope asked, helping JJ carry the alcohol out of the truck. Mera huffed out a deep sigh and rolled her eyes._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“They’re pigs,” Mera said. “Except maybe Sarah and Wheezie. But especially Rafe.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Did he say anything to you?” JJ asked, setting the alcohol down harder than he should have, leaving all the weight on Pope._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Nope,” Mera said quickly. “No, nothing.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Good,” JJ said, walking by her with a wink. “Wouldn’t want to drive up there and beat his ass.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“I think if Rafe tried anything,” Pope said, trying to carry the alcohol by himself over to the van. “Mera would have beat his ass herself.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“You know it.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“So we’re going to bring this kegger to the boneyard and get the party started, yeah?” John B said, finally helping Pope lift the alcohol into the van._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Do you want to change?” Kiara asked, putting a hand on Mera’s elbow._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Do you think I need to?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Well, we end up in the ocean a lot and wet jeans aren’t very fun,” Kiara said. Another mention of the ocean. Mera shook her head slowly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“I don’t think that I’ll be going in the water,” Mera said._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“You girls ready to go?” JJ called from the back of the van._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Coming!” Kiara turned to Mera. “You ready for your first party with the pogues?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“As I’ll ever be.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


	4. Paper Pipe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boneyard party is in full swing. Mera and Kie make a startling discovery about Mera's new relationship with the ocean. The Pogues try to get her mind off of it with lots of alcohol and lots of dancing. A moment between JJ and Mera freaks them both out. Back at the Chateau, Mera reveals something about her past that makes everyone a little bit uncomfortable. John B tells her that Ward Cameron has a potential job for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> stay safe  
> stay healthy  
> stay groovy

Stepping onto the boneyard, Mera caught sight of the ocean for the first time since she left it. Hearing the waves crash against the beach sent chills down her spine, but seeing it froze her where she stood. Kiara, whose arm was linked with Mera’s when she stopped, turned back. 

“You good?” She asked. Mera couldn’t tear her eyes from the open expanse of the ocean, heart starting to pound, her breathing speeding up. “Mera, it’s alright. You can stay here right here on the beach. You don’t have to go in the water.”

That was good. She didn’t want to go in the ocean. At least, she told herself that she didn’t want to. The roar of the ocean echoed in Mera’s heart. She heard the call of her sisters singing in her ears. Mera’s eyes fluttered shut as she listened to the familiar sound. It drew her forward toward the water, pulling at her stomach, her throat. 

When her eyes snapped open, Kiara thought she saw the reflection of a face in Mera’s eyes. She took a step backward, letting go of Mera’s arm. Mera sucked in deep breaths, putting a hand on her chest. 

“What the hell was that?” Kiara asked. Mera leaned forward, hoping to get some air into her lungs. 

“My sisters,” Mera gasped, flicking her eyes up to meet Kiara’s. “They’re calling me back.”

“What does that mean?”

“If I go in there-” Mera looked up at the ocean, past the boys who had jumped full force into the party. “I don’t think I’ll be coming out.” 

Kiara swallowed before stepping back up to Mera and putting a hand on her shoulder. 

“Then let’s make sure you never go in the ocean, yeah?”

Mera nodded her head. 

“Yeah.” 

“Come on. Let’s get you some beer. Get your mind off it all.” Kiara offered her hand. With an attempt at a smile, Mera took it and Kiara led her over to the rest of the party. Still, Mera could hear her sister’s whispering in the back of her mind, egging her toward the water. 

It was strange at first, Mera decided. Very few times in her lives had Mera ever felt awkward, but now was definitely one of those times. All of the people she knew already knew everyone else, quickly making small talk, laughing about inside jokes, throwing sand at each other. Mera took small sips of her beer, still unused to the flavor. There had to be something she could do to get her mind off of the ocean call without getting in the way of her friends. 

But before she could try, Kiara and JJ grabbed her by the hands, dragging toward a large group of people. 

“Come dance!” Kiara said. 

“Let loose, princess,” JJ echoed. 

“I’ve never danced to this kind of music before.” Mera was hesitant to follow, digging her heels into the sand. 

“Just move to the beat,” Kiara told her, putting a hand on Mera’s elbow. 

“We’ll show you how.”

“And if anyone gets too close, just push them away.” 

Mera was about to protest when they dragged her right into the thick of it. Her heart pounded in an uncomfortable away. Her chest ached, her lungs barely taking in any breath. Kiara stood in front of her, hands already in the air. JJ was behind Mera, one hand on her back to keep her steady. 

After a few moments, the music started to drown out the ocean call until she could no longer hear it. A smile broke out on Mera’s face, a weight lifting off her shoulders. She found herself able to mimic Kiara’s movements, swaying her hips in a similar way, moving her hands to the beat. 

It wasn’t music Mera was familiar with. There were drums, but they were much louder than she was used to and maybe something that sounded almost like a lute, but not really. She could barely understand the lyrics, but it didn’t really matter. Even with the bodies pressing in around her, Mera found herself laughing along with JJ and Kiara as they moved in sync. 

Kiara took Mera’s hands, moving her around, spinning her in circles. It was almost familiar to the partnered dancing she did once upon a time. JJ, feeling left out, ducked between their arms and started to wriggle around like a worm, sending a fit of laughter through Mera. 

“You’re ridiculous!” Kiara laughed at JJ, pressing against his shoulder with her hand. 

Sweat beaded on the back of Mera’s neck, her legs starting to ache from the constant jumping around. But she didn’t care. She kept dancing. Eventually, JJ and Kiara went to go grab another drink and Mera followed them, not wanting to be alone. 

“I haven’t danced like that in a long time,” Mera said, letting out a laugh as she plopped herself into the sand. John B handed her a beer, taking kegger duty for the time being. 

“You danced?” JJ asked, sitting beside her. “I thought all old time-y people thought dancing was of the devil.”

“Darling, I was a pirate. I stole things from people for a living. You really think my parents had any issues with _dancing _?”__

__“Right, right.” Mera didn’t notice the way the tips of JJ’s ears turned red when she called him ‘darling’._ _

__“How did you dance back then?” Pope asked, sitting on a fallen tree. Mera looked back at him._ _

__“Do you want me to show you?”_ _

__“Yes please,” JJ murmured, taking a drink from his beer. Kiara jabbed him in the shoulder with her fingers, to which JJ threw a handful of sand into her beer cup. Mera stood as the two of them bickered between each other, offering a hand to Pope. When he looked at her skeptically, she raised an eyebrow._ _

__“Humor me, Pope,” Mera said. “Let _me _teach _you _something for once.”_____ _

______Under the prospect of learning, Pope decided that maybe dancing with the strange fish-girl wasn’t so bad an idea after all. He took her hand and she pulled him to his feet._ _ _ _ _ _

______“This was one of my favorites,” Mera said._ _ _ _ _ _

______She started with the footwork, showing Pope where to go and what to do, declining to tell him that she would be the one leading. When he started to get the hang of it, JJ whistled._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Looking good there, Heyward,” he said, with a grin. Pope let go of Mera’s hand to strangle JJ, but she pulled him back, repeating the steps again. Once she was confident that he knew it, she turned to the others._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Clap to this beat, please,” she said._ _ _ _ _ _

______Mera clapped her hands a few times in the general direction of her friends. They picked it up shortly and Mera and Pope started the dance. It was slow, at first, to get him used to it, but she started to go faster and faster until Pope tripped over his feet. Mera let out a laugh, catching him before he hit the ground._ _ _ _ _ _

______“That was amazing!” She said, straightening him. “I have never seen someone pick it up so quickly!”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“My turn!” Kiara pushed herself out of the sand. Pope took her place with a grin. JJ bumped his shoulder._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I’ll teach you a new one,” Mera said, tapping her finger against her chin. “Ah, yes!”_ _ _ _ _ _

______They spent the next few minutes learning the new dance before Mera gave the boys a beat to clap. Pope added a few downbeats to go with it, laughing as Kiara struggled to get her arms and feet to work in sync._ _ _ _ _ _

______“To the water!” A voice shouted from the large group of kids. Kiara, Pope and John B followed the instructions and took off toward the ocean. When Kiara slipped out of Mera’s hand, she felt like her breath was taken away from her. Mera watched all of the pogues in the ocean, laughing, splashing each other, pulling at each other’s legs from underneath the waves. She suddenly felt very alone._ _ _ _ _ _

______“They’re safe out there, right?” Mera startled at the sound of JJ’s voice beside her. “None of your people-eating friends will come for them?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______After collecting herself, Mera crossed her arms and shook her head._ _ _ _ _ _

______“No. They don’t come this close to the shore. Too high a risk.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“What were you doing so close?” JJ asked her. Mera ran her tongue over her teeth and chuckled, looking at her feet as she buried her toes in the sand. There was no way she was going to tell him that she had come to watch him surf that day. It hadn’t been the first time she saw him, the day she saved him. She knew the boy with the blond hair wouldn’t be able to resist the waves that day, so she had come to watch him. It was a good thing she had._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I like to play it dangerous,” she said, plucking her cup off of the ground and taking a drink. “Never mattered much to me whether anyone saw me or if I got caught in a net.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______A lie. She had been caught in a net once and it was the most terrifying experience. The feeling of the rope against her skin still haunted her._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I see.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Aren’t you going to go in?” Mera asked, taking another quick drink to drown out the steadily growing ocean call in her head._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Nah,” JJ said, sitting back down. “I just washed my hair. Don’t want to get it all salty.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Mera smiled as she lowered herself to the ground beside him. A slower song came from the speaker where the others had been dancing. Mera narrowed her eyes at the sound. It was very different from what she was used to._ _ _ _ _ _

______“How do you dance to a song this slow?” She asked JJ. “There is no beat for jumping, no way to move your arms or hips.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“You usually dance with someone for slow songs,” JJ told her._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Like a partner dance?” Mera’s eyes lit up. Partner dances had always been her favorite. Moving in sync with another person, that connection, was unlike anything else Mera had ever felt._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Yeah, I guess so,” JJ said with a shrug of his shoulders. Mera scrambled to her feet._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Will you teach me?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______JJ looked up at her, saw her beaming down at him, and couldn’t say no._ _ _ _ _ _

______“There really isn’t much to it, princess,” he said, standing slowly. Mera’s smile fell and her breath hitched when he stepped right up to her. She swallowed a lump in her throat and watched JJ do the same._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I just...you put your hands here-” He lifted her arms and draped them over his shoulders. “And I...I put my hands here.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Mera felt her stomach flip when he placed his hands on her hips and pulled her in close until their chests were almost touching. The ocean roared in response._ _ _ _ _ _

______“What now?” She asked, her voice just louder than a whisper._ _ _ _ _ _

______“You sway, like this.” Mera smiled, chewing on the inside of her cheek, as JJ started to move back and forth. After a few moments, she followed suit. She felt her cheeks grow hot when his thumb grazed her bare skin. Her stomach flipped a thousand more times and she wasn’t sure why._ _ _ _ _ _

______“This is a very easy partner dance,” Mera said, trying to break away the tension she felt._ _ _ _ _ _

______“There’s not much to it.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______That connection that Mera had been thinking about when she thought of partner dances was so different from what was happening now. That connection was like a string bringing two people together, tying their lives into one, for a moment relying on someone else. This was different. This was intimate. This was close. Too close._ _ _ _ _ _

______The song ended and Mera stepped away, dropping her hands and shoving them into her back pockets. She cleared her throat and JJ coughed, looking away from her out toward the ocean. He rubbed his palms against the side of his pants._ _ _ _ _ _

______For the next few moments, which felt like an eternity, neither of them said anything. That is, until John B ran out of the ocean with Kiara on his back, both of them cackling with laughter. John B fell to the ground, Kiara tumbling off of him. Mera glanced up at JJ briefly, only to meet his eyes before looking back at her friends._ _ _ _ _ _

______“It’s freezing in there!” Kiara shuddered to prove her point, shoving her hands into the cool sand. “Should we head back?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Pope came stumbling out of the water, rubbing his arms with his dripping wet hands._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I just remembered that there are man eating fish out there,” Pope said, walking as if the ground was made of glass._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Pope,” Kiara hissed, smacking his shin with the back of her hand while nodding her head toward Mera, who found it in herself to give a little laugh._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Mera, I’m sorry-”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“It’s nothing to worry about,” Mera said with a wave of her hand._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Let’s get out of here,” John B said, pulling his shirt back on over his head. “I’m frozen solid.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Mera wasn’t aware they were being accompanied by another girl on their way back home. She had seen her at the party, danced beside her a few times even. She wasn’t sure that she had seen the girl talk to John B even once, yet she was his escort home._ _ _ _ _ _

______There was only one time Mera had ever been inside a brothel. She had pretended to be one of the girls, hoping to preen information about a slave ship from one of the clients. The girls were sweet, willing to lie for her, to protect her. But the life they lived was one of servitude and Mera had been more than pleased to leave two weeks after she arrived._ _ _ _ _ _

______Now, she wondered if that was how this girl felt. The longer she looked, the more she realized that that wasn’t the case. While the girls at the brothel had to pretend to want to be there, this girl was shameless in her desire for John B. Mera almost found herself smiling. At least women were free to love to whatever extent they wanted without shame. She just hoped that it meant there were few women being murdered and attacked on the streets._ _ _ _ _ _

______When John B stopped the van, Kiara, Pope, and JJ hopped out as quickly as they could. Mera followed out, not really wanting to watch her fake cousin in such an intimate place. Walking over to her friends, Mera felt a laugh build up in her throat._ _ _ _ _ _

______“We’re going to have to put you in a different bed, princess,” JJ said, not hiding his smile._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I can’t believe you let me sleep in that bed...ever,” she said, quiet giggles coming from her mouth._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I don’t think there’s a single surface in that house you can sleep on with those two around,” Kiara said, waving her finger between JJ and the house where John B was. A burst of laughter came from Mera as Pope gagged._ _ _ _ _ _

______“That’s disgusting to think about, Kie,” Pope said, squeezing his eyes shut. “I’m blaming you for putting that thought in my head.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Mera kept laughing as he pressed his forehead against a tree, rubbing his eyes with his knuckles as if to scrub the image away. JJ stood there, silent but not embarrassed._ _ _ _ _ _

______“We’re probably going to have to sleep out here,” Kiara said, laughter still making her words shake. “Here, the hammocks are comfortable.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Kiara crawled into one of the hammocks, JJ hopping in after her. Pope and Mera climbed into the other, shifting around each other and passing sorry’s until they were comfortable._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I’m not tired,” Pope said._ _ _ _ _ _

______“No, me neither.” Kiara sat up. “Mera, tell us something about your life.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Which life?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Either one.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Mera thought about her life under the surface, how cold she had felt, how cold she had been. She thought of the way her teeth sunk into the necks of hundreds of men, the way she tore the flesh off of people’s bones. She tried to smile, but the thought made her sick. They didn’t want to hear about that. No. They would run from her if they knew just how horrible she had been._ _ _ _ _ _

______“What do you want to know?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______JJ pulled something out of his pocket, flicking it open, a little flame appeared. Mera startled, sitting straighter._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Is that...fire?” she asked, scowling at the little thing. JJ nodded._ _ _ _ _ _

______“It’s a lighter.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“You carry fire in your pocket?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______JJ stuck something between his teeth, a bit of rolled up paper, his grin lopsided. He brought the flame to the paper, letting the edge burn. Breathing in and then out again, a puff of smoke curled out of JJ’s nose and mouth. Mera’s eyes widened with glee._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Is that like a...a pipe? But small?” She asked._ _ _ _ _ _

______“And disposable,” JJ said, handing the piece of paper to Kiara, who took a long breath in. “You wanna try?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Mera looked at Pope, who shook his head._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I always keep the signal clear,” he said, tapping two fingers against his temple._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I am unfamiliar with what a signal is,” Mera said, taking the piece of paper as Kiara offered it. If it was just like a pipe, then Mera knew how to use it. Putting the paper between her lips, she let herself get used to the strange texture, shutting her eyes. She breathed in deeply, feeling the smoke fill her. She let the breath out, puffing the smoke into the warm night air._ _ _ _ _ _

______Handing the paper pipe back to JJ, Mera felt her nerves begin to relax._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I have a question for you,” JJ said, propping himself up on his elbow. Mera looked at him with a small smile and narrowed eyes. “Are you a virgin?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“JJ!” Kiara protested, tapping her toes against JJ’s cheek, who swatted her feet away,_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Kiara, it’s fine,” Mera said with a laugh. “No, JJ, I’m not.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Really?” Pope asked from beside her. Mera shrugged._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I was a pirate with a duty to fulfil,” Mera told him. “And men are very willing to tell a girl anything when she has him in such a compromising position.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______JJ and Pope laughed, but Kiara just stared._ _ _ _ _ _

______“You said you were 16 when you became a mermaid,” Kiara said. Mera nodded, smiling. “You were sleeping with men for information when you were 16?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Mera shrugged her shoulders, unbothered._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I had been doing it for three years before that.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______JJ and Pope stopped laughing._ _ _ _ _ _

______“That’s fucked,” JJ said._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Your parents made you do that?” Pope asked. Mera was starting to feel like she shouldn’t have brought it up. Her smile fell and she suddenly felt the weight of their stares._ _ _ _ _ _

______“They didn’t _make _me do anything I didn’t want to,” Mera told them. “I did what I had to.”___ _ _ _ _ _

________Mera had never been ashamed of it before. Those in her crew clapped her on the back, told her what an amazing job she was doing. Her mother and father gave her rewards for it. Maybe it made Mera a little sick on the inside, but saving slaves and stealing cargo made it all worth it. It was her life for theirs, right?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________But now, with all three pairs of eyes on her, Mera wondered if it was something to feel shame about, to be embarrassed by. She sniffed and looked down at her hands with a small shake of her head. The mood turned sour instantly and Mera couldn’t help but feel that it was her fault._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I’m sorry,” she said, shaking her head with a little laugh. “I shouldn’t...I shouldn’t have said anything.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________No one spoke and Mera just felt worse and worse until JJ reached his hand out, the paper pipe in his hand. Mera looked up at him and he gave her a twinge of a smile before looking at the thing in his hand. Mera scoffed, feeling a ghost of a smile on her own lips. She took the pipe and put it between her lips, breathing in and out, in and out, in and out, before passing it back to JJ._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“We’ve all got dirt,” JJ said, his fingers grazing over hers as he took it back. “Don’t feel bad about yours.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________It didn’t take long for the sour mood to turn back to something light and airy. Mera clamped her mouth shut for as long as she could, not trying to say anything else to make them uncomfortable._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The sun was starting to peak over the horizon when Mera realized that she was still awake. Pope was asleep beside her, soft snores coming from his mouth. Kie’s eyes were shut, her breathing steady, but Mera wasn’t sure if she was awake or not. It seemed like JJ hadn’t blinked in over an hour, his eyes fixed on the sky above. Mera listened to the water beat against the shore, the wooden dock creaking with the movement of the current. For a moment, she could close her eyes and imagine she was back on her ship, sleeping in her hammock with her bunkmate beside her. The water would kiss the sides of the boat, pounding against it when the waves came. Mera would sleep through it._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The only difference between then and now was back then, Mera couldn’t escape the ocean call wherever she was. Even on land, she heard them calling to her, begging for her to join them. Now, she could only hear it when she was close to the water, as last night had taught her. But she knew a good way to drown it out; music, dance, alcohol, smoke, JJ._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________When Mera’s eyes shot open, trying to take back her own thoughts, she realized that the sun was higher in the sky and that she was the only one in the hammocks. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up. JJ and John B were out front, fiddling with some kind of mechanical thing. Pope was sitting on the steps, drinking water through a straw. Kie was nowhere in sight._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Throwing her legs over the side of the hammock, Mera smacked her lips and stretched her arms._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Welcome to the land of the living, Sleeping Beauty,” John B said with a smile, standing. “Sleep well, cos?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Mera grunted, brushing her hair out of her eyes._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I’ll take that as a no.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“There’s some breakfast on the table,” Pope told Mera as she walked inside._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Thank you, Pope.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“He gets a nice, pleasant ‘thank you, Pope’ and I don’t even get a wave?” JJ whined to John B. “Women.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Maybe if you stopped asking her about sex and tried to have a normal human conversation with her, she’d be more likely to say ‘hi’ when she wakes up,” Pope suggested, slurping his water loudly. JJ blew a raspberry at him. Mera smiled as she picked a plate off of the table. Peanut butter toast. Mera felt her heart warm._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Walking back outside, she sat beside Pope, munching on her toast._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Hi, JJ,” she said._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Hey, princess,” he replied with a smile, turning back to the mechanical object he and John B were working on._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“What is this thing?” Mera asked Pope, setting her plate on her knees._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“It’s a motorcycle,” Pope told her, leaning back on his elbows. “JJ’s dad told him that if he could fix it up, he could keep it.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Is it like a car?” It was obviously a stupid question by the way John B and JJ snickered to each other. Mera scowled._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“It’s like a horse, I guess. Except it’s got two wheels and an engine.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“And instead of carrots, you feed it oil,” John B added, smearing something black across his forehead._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Ah.” Mera was slowly starting to understand. At least, she thought she was._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Oh, cos.” John B turned around toward Mera, wiping a metal tool in a rag. “Ward called me this morning. He thinks he might have a job for you.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Mera’s eyes lit up and she grinned._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Really?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Yeah. It doesn’t sound like fun, but it’s money,” he told her. Mera nodded her head excitedly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I’ll do it, whatever it is.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“See, he’s got this pod of old stuff left behind in people’s houses when he buys them. He likes to keep some of the stuff to sell off later. Says he needs someone to clean everything off, make sure it looks shiny and new,” John B said. “You up for it?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Mera stood, still grinning._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Of course!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I’ll let him know then,” John B said, pulling his phone out of his pocket and stepping inside the house. Mera couldn’t keep her smile from her face._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“You know what that means, right, Mera?” Pope said._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I’ll be making money to repay you guys for all you’ve done for me,” Mera said, glancing between Pope and JJ, who was wiping his hands on his shorts. Mera hadn’t realized until just then, but JJ had discarded his shirt, leaving his top bare. She felt her cheeks grow hot and she turned back quickly to Pope._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“It means you have to hang around Rafe Cameron’s house,” Pope told her slowly. Mera shrugged, blowing air through her lips._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Rafe Cameron doesn’t scare me,” she said, pulling her knees up to her chest._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Just be careful with him. He has a habit of making the Pogues’ lives a living hell,” Pope told her._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“And he has a thing for hot girls,” JJ added. Mera tilted her head toward him.  
“You think I’m hot?” she asked. She wasn’t entirely familiar with the term, but from the context she was sure she understood well enough what it meant. It made her smile to see JJ splutter and try to cover for himself. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Like I said,” Mera said, looking back at Pope. “Rafe has nothing on me. I can handle myself.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Pope looked at his feet._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Be careful with him,” Pope said once more. “That boy’s unhinged.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Mera didn’t have anything to say in response. Maybe he was, but Mera had spent 16 years with people who were supposed to be ‘unhinged’, immoral, the scum of the cities. Sure, the Cameron’s were filthy rich and part of her despised them for it, but she also remembered Denmark Tanny. He was rich beyond belief all because of that shipwreck, yet he was a kind soul, a gentle heart._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Mera knew better than to hate someone for what she saw on the outside. She just wished that she could prove to the Pogues that maybe Rafe wasn’t so bad. She remembered how Rose spoke to Rafe, the way his father seemed to look right over him. Mera wondered what could be beneath the boy’s hard exterior._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Cos, good news!” John B said, walking out of the house. “Ward wants to meet today if you’re willing.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Mera guessed she was about to find out._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


	5. Shower Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Mera's first day on the job at Tannyhill and she comes face to face with Rafe Cameron once again.   
> After a long day, all she wants to do is shower and relax, but her haunting memories have a different plan for her.

Mera wasn’t sure why, but she felt unsettled walking back up to Tannyhill. She forced herself into a pair of Kie’s shorts and a short sleeved, collared shirt, praying silently to herself that no one could sense her discomfort. No one except John B, who was taking the entire cousin thing to heart. It seemed that he could already sense how she felt and what she was thinking. 

So, as they made their journey up the incredibly long driveway toward the house, he tapped his elbow against her arm, drawing her out of her own consciousness. 

“You look good,” he said, not even glancing at her. “We get you some jewelry, maybe a tattoo or two, and you’ll fit right in here with everyone else.” 

The thought made Mera smile. She wanted to fit in, whatever way she possibly could. 

“You really think our plan is going to work?” She asked, tucking her hands into her back pockets. Modern pockets weren’t as deep as she was used to. Mera wondered why some clothes even had pockets if they weren’t going to be of any use. 

“I think it already has.” There was a confidence in John B’s voice that was contagious. Even if Mera didn’t believe truly that they were going to succeed, she believed the smile on John B’s face. And that was enough. 

“I trust you, cos,” she said with a smile, bumping into him with her shoulder. 

“John B, Mera!” Ward walked toward them with his arms open and a smile on his face. “Ready for your first day of work?” 

Mera managed a smile, nervously rolling onto the balls of her feet.

“Yes, sir,” she said. 

“Great.” He clapped his hands together, making Mera flinch ever so slightly. “John, you know what to do. I’ll take care of Mera.” 

“Sure. See you in a few hours?” John B looked at Mera and she hummed quietly and nodded her head. Being apart from him made her feel uncomfortable all over again, but she was going to have to deal with it. 

“Follow me, Mera.” 

She would never have described herself as timid in her past lives, but that was definitely what she was feeling like now. There had always been a feeling of uncertainty when she crossed into enemy territory, but now she didn’t have her parents or an entire ocean of man eating sirens for backup. She was on her own. 

Ward walked toward his house, talking about something or another that Mera wasn’t really listening to. They didn’t go into the house, but just kept walking past it. Mera spotted Sarah in her bedroom window. The girl threw her window open and hollered. 

“Mera!” She said with a smile. “How are you?” 

“I’m good, Sarah,” Mera replied, squinted up at the girl. 

“Sorry, Darling,” Ward interjected, putting an uncomfortable arm around Mera’s shoulders. “The girl’s here to work today. Why don’t you bring out some water for her? We’ll be in the pod in the back.” 

“Sure thing,” Sarah said, her smile never once falling. 

“The pod’s just back here,” Ward told Mera, dropping his arm back to his side. He had been nothing but kind to her since she arrived, so why did Mera feel in so much danger every time he was around? Her mother would tell her that was her intuition speaking and that she should listen to it. Her dad would tell her that she should be more trusting of people, that not everyone was going to stab her in the back. 

That left Mera in a very uncomfortable place of not knowing what to do at all. 

“You might feel overwhelmed at how much there is,” Ward said as they walked up to the pod. “But I don’t expect it all done at once.” 

He laughed. Mera must have missed the joke. 

The “pod” was more a warehouse than anything else. Mera let out an unintentional sigh before Ward even opened the door. She let out another when she was actually inside. 

Mera had spent much of her time cleaning things as a pirate. There was a lot of cleaning that took place, especially when she was in trouble. But  _ this _ ? This seemed impossible. 

“I had Rose bring out all the supplies I thought you might need. If you want anything else, just let me know.” Ward didn’t even step a foot inside the pod. “And, remember, don’t mix the bleach and the ammonia. I can’t have you dying on your first day.” 

He laughed again. Mera managed a half of a chuckle, but her mind was elsewhere, wondering how long it was going to take to clean even half of the things that Ward had stored away in here. It didn’t matter, she supposed. The longer it took, the longer she was employed. And having a job was all part of the plan to keep her here. 

“If something is too gross or unusable, just call me or Rafe and we’ll take it right out of your hair,” Ward said. Mera noticed that he had taken a step back. 

She wasn’t sure who she would rather call if she needed help. Rafe, who she had punched in the face and seemed to hate her an incredible (but understandable) amount or Ward, who gave off the weirdest vibes that Mera had ever felt. 

“Thank you,” Mera said finally, turning to look at Ward. 

“If you need anything, just shout.” With that, he turned to leave. 

Mera let out a heavy breath as she turned to face her task at hand. It was better to let her mind go blank and let her hands do all the work. 

The pod was mostly filled with furniture, but the ground was filthy and there was trash here and there. So that’s where Mera started. She picked up the bigger pieces of trash and shoved them into a large, black trash bag, before sweeping the floor that she could see. 

When she finally got to the chemicals, she didn’t know what half of the things were. She was used to water and sometimes soap. Ammonia, bleach, windex, she didn’t have the faintest idea what they were. After reading the labels of every single chemical, bottle, and other cleaning supply that Ward had provided, she felt like she had enough knowledge to get started on the closest thing that needed cleaning, an oven. 

She pulled her hair back into a ponytail, sitting cross legged on the floor. She had barely pulled all the racks out and sprayed them with something to soak with the door opened. Half expecting Sarah, Mera turned with a smile, only to find Rafe standing in the doorway. Her smile fell, even as she saw the glass of water in his hand. 

Blowing a stray piece of hair out of her face, Mera felt herself slouch. 

“What do you want?” She asked. Rafe gave her a sneering smile. 

“Careful, Mera. I’m your boss now.” 

“Your dad is my boss.” 

“Same thing.” 

“What can I do for you, Rafe?” She asked, her words dripping with sarcastic sweetness. 

“Oh, nothing.” 

Rafe set the glass of water next to Mera and lowered himself to the ground beside her. Her stomach knotted and she instinctively brought her hand to her hip, where her dagger would have been if she still had her dagger.

_ Damn _ . She thought to herself.  _ Why did daggers ever go out of style?  _

“Are you just going to sit there and watch?” Mera asked, irritated. Rafe leaned back, a smirk on his lips. 

“I’ll do as I damn please,” he said. Mera rolled her eyes and got back to work, leaving the cup of water untouched. She scrubbed the racks until scrubbing did no more good. She repeated the process with the burners on the top. She was sweating and covered in grime by the time she started searching for a tub to soak the burners and the racks in. 

“What’re you looking for?” Rafe asked, pushing himself to his feet. 

“I don’t need your help,” Mera said in a sing-songy voice as she struggled to climb over all of Ward’s junk. 

“Woah there,” Rafe said, putting out his hands to steady Mera as she stumbled over something. With a glare, Mera tried to pull her arm from his grip, but he held fast. 

“What do you want from me?” She asked him, her eyes narrowing even further and tugging on her arm again. “If you don’t let me go, I’ll scream, I swear to God.” 

“And what would that do for you, huh?” 

“You don’t think your dad wouldn’t believe any lie I told him about what you were doing here with me? He hardly trusts you as is. To him, I’m ten times more trustworthy than you are.” 

The coy smile on his face faltered for just a moment, the facade almost crumbling. 

“You don’t know that.” 

Mera scoffed and pulled her arm away from him as his grip loosened. 

“Look, Rafe, your daddy doesn’t like you. I’m sorry about that, but if you push me, I’ll use it to my advantage.” 

Rafe huffed and took a step backward. 

“What the hell did I do to you to make you hate me so much?” He asked and Mera almost saw an ounce of humanity in him. She suddenly felt the familiar pang of guilt in her stomach. 

“You made assumptions about me because of how I looked, who I hung out with. You were hostile first,” she defended, taking a step away from him. 

“You punched me.” 

“You touched me without my permission.” 

“You act like I assaulted you.” 

“Yeah, well, you-” Mera closed her eyes and let out a heavy breath. They were running around in circles and getting nowhere. “Why don’t we start over? I won’t judge you based off of your daddy issues and your anger management problems and you won’t judge me based on my family or my anger management problems, alright?” 

Rafe narrowed his eyes, considering this for a moment. Mera wasn’t really sure why she had offered anyway. She had given him a partial olive branch once and he didn’t take it. He was even more hostile than ever after that. What made her think he would take one now? 

“I can do that.” 

Mera was almost taken aback. Her shock increased when Rafe attempted to smile at her. After a few moments she gave a short nod. 

“Alright. Why don’t you start by helping me find a tub somewhere in this mess.” 

With Rafe’s help, it really didn’t take very long for Mera to find a tub large enough to fit the racks and the stove burners. Pouring a healthy amount of ammonia into a bag, she placed the racks and burners into the bag, tied it up and placed it inside the tub. 

“That stuff reeks,” Rafe groaned, pinching his nose. Mera just let out a sigh of agreement. “What now?” 

“Now I clean the inside and the top,” Mera said, dropping back to her knees. 

“What about the stuff in the tub?” 

“That stays until tomorrow.”

“Oh.” 

“You’ve never had to clean like this before?” She asked him, glancing back with a partial smile. Rafe ran a hand through his hair, messing up the perfectly laid gel. He looked better with his hair tousled. 

“Um, no,” he said finally. Mera found herself giving a small laugh. 

“Well, it’s pretty boring. You don’t have to stand there and watch,” she said. She wasn’t really sure she wanted to be leaning into the oven to clean wearing as short of pants as she was with a boy watching her. It just didn’t seem right somehow. 

“Right. Um, do you want music or something? Just so it’s not so quiet,” Rafe said. All the confidence he was pretending to have before was gone. The barest of a blush graced his cheeks. 

“I’ll survive, Rafe. Thank you.” Mera sat awkwardly on the floor with the scrub brush in her hands just waiting for him to leave. 

“I don’t really have anywhere else to be. Do you mind if I stay?” He added quickly. “I can help if you want.” 

Mera felt a small smile creep up her face. John B and JJ would kill her if they heard what she was about to say. 

“Yeah,” she said. “You can stay. But it would actually be better if you didn’t help. The longer it takes to clean everything in here, the longer I have a job, so….”

“Oh, right. I’ll, uh, just sit over there, then.” 

Mera was glad to see that he chose a place to sit where he didn’t have a direct view of her ass. She started to clean, the tension weighing heavily on them for a while, until Rafe spoke once again. 

“So, how do you like California?” He asked. Mera was grateful that her head was currently in an oven so he couldn’t see the way her eyes widened. 

“California is, uh-” Mera had never been to California. She had no idea what it was like at all. “It was good.”

“Live by the beach?” 

“Mmm-hmm.” 

“I imagine it’s not much different from here.” Mera shook her head even though he couldn’t really see it. “Water’s colder I bet.” 

Mera racked her mind for an answer. The water on the east side of the Americas had always been warmer, she knew that much. She’d never been to the west coast, which was where she was assuming Claifornia was, but she met people who had and they did often complain of cold waters. 

“Much,” she answered finally, hoping it was the right answer. 

“You left a life in California with a rich lawyer mom to live with your pogue cousin in the middle of nowhere?” 

“Guess so.” 

“Why?”

Mera sat back with a sigh, her hands already covered in muck. She brushed her cheek with the back of her hand to scratch an itch, unknowingly leaving behind a black smear. 

_ The best way to lie is mostly by telling the truth.  _

Two major life decisions had brought her here. The first, avenging the death of her father and becoming a siren in the process. The second, choosing to save JJ’s life and leave the ocean for good. But why had she made those decisions in the first place? 

“I knew there was more out there,” she decided on finally. “More that I could be doing, more that I  _ should  _ be doing. I felt trapped, held in a box, forced to do things that I didn’t want to do. I couldn’t handle it anymore. So, when I got my out, I took it.” 

Rafe watched her carefully, noting the distant look in her eyes as she fiddled with the scrubber. 

“Do you want to go back?” 

The ocean called to her every day. If she listened, she could hear it. She still heard Ira’s voice in her head, heard her brothers and sisters calling to her. Her bones ached to be in the water once again, her flesh yearning for her. But Mera wasn’t sure that  _ she  _ wanted to, even if her body called out for it. 

Going back to  _ The Iron Anchor _ , to her real mother, was a different matter. It was a duller ache, something deeper within her. To be a pirate once again with no responsibilities, no fears, a family who loved her, a job that saved people’s lives. Was that something she wanted? No, not if her father wasn’t there with her. 

So, her mind made up, she finally shook her head. 

“No, I don’t think so,” she said and looked over at him. She didn’t really have much of a choice at this point, but it was still the truth. “This is my life now and I’m learning to enjoy it.” 

“That kinda makes it sound like it wasn’t your choice to leave.” 

Damn. She really wasn’t very good at this whole lying by telling the truth thing. 

“I thought we weren’t going to talk about my family.” Mera leaned back into the oven before he could see her grimacing over her mistake. 

“Right.” She could hear the interest in Rafe’s voice, but he didn’t push.

They talked about simple things for a few more minutes before Sarah came in with a bottle of water. Rafe stood quickly and said something mildly rude before practically running out of the door. 

“That was weird,” Sarah said with a partial laugh. “So, Mera, how are you?” 

***

She felt absolutely disgusting as she walked back to the Chateau. Covered in grit, sweat, and old food Mera was a little grouchy as she stepped out of John B’s van. 

“You got a bathing tub?” she asked, holding her arms out to the side of her so the sweat on her arms wasn’t touching her skin. John B’s lips quirked up into a little smile. 

“I’ve got a shower if that’s good enough,” he told her. She scowled but nodded her head. “I’ll show you the way.” 

Mera followed John B back into the house, where Kiara and JJ were lounging on the couch. 

“Hey, Mera,” Kie said with a smile. Her eyes were drooping ever so slightly. The look on Kie’s face and the smell of the air, Mera guessed she and JJ had just finished smoking. The smell made her nose scrunch. 

“How was work?” JJ asked as he lifted his head. 

“Good,” Mera said, eager to get in the shower. 

“Rafe give you any problems?” 

Mera felt herself clam up. She gave a shrug of her shoulders, refusing to look him in the eye. She somehow felt like she shouldn’t tell them about her civil conversation with Rafe. They definitely wouldn’t approve. 

“Nope,” she said. “I’m gonna go to the...shower? Yeah, the shower.” 

“Water’s probably cold,” John B said once they got to the bathroom. “Hope that isn’t a problem.” 

Mera simply shook her head. She grabbed a new set of clothes, John B’s sweats and JJ’s sweater, before locking herself in the bathroom. Peeling off her clothes was like peeling of skin. The denim shorts especially clung to her skin and by the time it was all off, Mera couldn’t have been happier. It finally felt like she could breathe. 

Stepping into the tub, the water cascaded down her body and washed away everything that was weighing her down. The feeling of water against her skin was refreshing and familiar. It wasn’t the same as the salty, ocean water she was used to, but it was almost close enough. If she closed her eyes and tried hard enough, she could almost imagine that she was back under the surface, deep in the depths of the sea. 

The ocean was always dark unless you were near the surface during the day time. Dark and deep and unknowable. It was just something you had to get used to as a siren, the darkness and the numbness. 

But even the darkness couldn’t hide the smell of the blood or the muffled yet terrified screams of the sailors as they drowned. Nor could the darkness cover up the look of the light draining out of their eyes. 

350 years worth of killing, 350 years worth of lost souls pined on Mera’s back. 

All those people, all those families who lost someone to Mera’s own teeth, they haunted her every waking second. Even if she tried to cover it up, drown it out with any distraction she could find, she saw their faces in everything. The ocean call distorted into the sounds of their screaming. 

Mera snapped her eyes open. If her heart still beat like a normal person’s, it would be pounding, throbbing in her ears and in her chest. She supposed she carried an ounce of numbness with her still. 

If her heart didn’t beat, how human could she really be?

Pulling a shuddering breath in through her nose, Mera turned off the shower and stepped out. She wrung out her hair before twisting it up into a misshapen bun. A heaviness still hung on her shoulders as she pulled on the sweatshirt and sweatpants. With her hair dripping wet and now fully dressed, Mera felt a thousand times better than she did before, but her mind was full of fuzziness. Maybe it was a desire to sleep, maybe it was thinking about her life as Apa. 

It didn’t matter either way. Mera pushed the bathroom door open to find that the sun was starting to set, the world covered in a smoky blueness. All of her friends were outside, sitting by the hammocks. She paused for a moment at the door, watching them in the light of dusk. 

Pope had showed up sometime when she was in the shower. He rested his head in Kiara’s lap as she strummed her ukelele. Her soft voice, carried by the wind, was sweet like milk. She sang what almost sounded like a sea shanty, just with words that Mera didn’t recognize. But she had a voice that would make even a siren jealous. That thought made Mera smile. Just picturing Ira’s face when she heard Kiara sing….

Pope hummed along to Kiara’s song, John B tapping his fingers against the beer bottle in his hands. It was a song they clearly all knew. Mera wondered if she would ever be able to recognize songs they knew someday. Maybe she would be able to hear their songs and not be reminded of her own. Or maybe she could teach them some of the ones she knew and then the songs no longer had to be hers versus theirs, but they could share them all. 

Mera liked the thought of that. 

Taking her first step out of the house, she felt that weight on her chest evaporate. JJ saw her first and a lazy smile pulled across his lips. He moved over even though there was already plenty of room between him and John B, so Mera took that as an indication that he wanted her to sit next to him. Pulling at her sleeves, she lowered herself to the ground as quietly as she could, not wanting to interrupt the jam session. 

JJ leaned back, setting his hand a few inches behind Mera. She was painfully aware of how close he was to her, heat radiating off of him. 

“Have a nice shower?” he whispered. Mera nodded her head slowly, not trusting her own voice to respond. He watched her carefully, his eyes narrowing. She could feel his gaze ghost over her body. If it was anyone else, it would have made her stiffen up, but for some reason, she didn’t. 

“Mera?” Kiara stopped strumming and looked up. Pope carried the tune for a few more moments before realizing his muse had gone silent. Shaking away her thoughts about JJ, Mera looked to her friend with a soft smile. 

“Yes?” 

“I’ve been wondering...you don’t have to answer, but, I just wanted to know why you chose to leave the ocean when you did. I mean, I know you said that you didn’t like the...killing....anymore. But why now? Why now after all this time?” 

Mera felt her breath hitch in her throat and she resisted the urge to look back at JJ. Part of her wished she could tell a lie and just pretend that it had nothing to do with him, but what point was there in that? Why lie to her only friends? 

“I was always waiting for the right time.” Mera spoke slowly at first, her mouth going dry. “I’d seen you guys surfing there before, all of you. When I saw JJ floating in the water, I waited for you guys to come, hoping that it wouldn’t have to be me. Stories of rogue sirens were used as a way to keep us in line, along with the nets. They were meant to keep us from even thinking about going to the surface and for so long, it worked.” She finally turned to look at JJ just out of the corner of her eye, her voice going soft. He struggled to meet her gaze. 

“I saw you there in the water and I knew what I had to do, but I waited until the last second and for that I’m sorry.” JJ twitched like he was going to say something, but decided against it. “I couldn’t just let him die. He was my way out, the linchpin that gave me the courage to finally do what I should have a long time ago.” 

“Did it hurt?” JJ asked. His voice was soft, barely audible even though she was right there next to him. She looked back at him again and when he glanced up at her, Mera could have sworn he saw something like tears shimmering in his eyes. 

“No,” she said as firmly as she could, but her voice broke. 

“Don’t lie,” John B said from her other side. He wasn’t looking at her, his eyes fixed on a patch of grass by Pope’s head and his jaw tight. He absentmindedly picked at the blades beneath him.

Mera let out a heavy sigh and her shoulders sagged. 

“Yes, it hurt,” she said again, all confidence gone from her voice. 

“What was it like?” Pope asked. His eyes were glued to her, wide and soaking in her every word. 

“It was like….” Mera brought her knees up to her chest, wrapped her arms around her legs. The air felt suddenly cold against her still drying skin. “It was like breaking through a thousand layers of glass. Like claws were just….” She ran her fingernails gently over her arm, lungs tightening in her chest. “And that was just getting out of the water. I barely got JJ to the shore before everything else hit me. My gills were fading and I couldn’t breathe, my tail was dissolving, the webbing in my hands was going and it was cold, so cold. I don’t think my words are enough to explain it, but I was falling apart physiologically and being put back together again. I didn’t feel it the first time when I became a siren, but I felt it this time. I felt every single thing.” 

A single tear drops from Mera’s eye. She didn’t feel like she wanted to cry, but the tear came anyway. She swiped away the trail of water the tear left behind and looked up, pressing her lips together in an attempt to smile. 

“My god,” Kie breathed. 

“Hey, anything is better than where I was before. Besides,” Mera gave a real smile. “All that pain brought me here, to you guys.” 

There was a moment of silence. The wind blew, rustling the leaves in the trees. 

“Well, shit, Mera,” JJ said and gave a playful pout. “You did that for me?” 

She could tell it was a joke in attempts to lighten the mood, so Mera laughed, but she didn’t find the words to respond. Another silence followed. 

“You ever seen Pirates of the Caribbean?” John B asked. Kie looked at him with her eyebrows pinched together. Mera wasn’t sure how to answer his question. She had no idea what he was talking about, but she presumed the answer would be no. 

“It’s a movie,” Pope said when no one else said anything. “A...a series of moving pictures. We can watch it sometime if you want.” 

“What, you think just because I’m a pirate I want to consume anything and everything that pertains to pirates now?” Mera asked with a raised eyebrow. Pope stammered a few things before Mera laughed. “Because you would think right. I would love to watch it sometime.” 

“Oh, if we’re catching you up on pop culture, you gotta watch Lost Boys,” JJ suggested. 

“Lost Boys, J, really?” Kie scowled at her friend. “Of all the movies, that’s the one you want her to see first?” 

“C’mon, Kie. Vampires in Santa Cruz? Twilight would never exist if it wasn’t for Lost Boys. It’s iconic.” 

“We have very different opinions on what ‘iconic’ means.” 

“We should make a running list,” John B suggested, leaning forward with a smile on his face. “All the books and movies and music and whatnot that you should see.”

Mera nodded fervently. She needed to be up to date on everything “pop culture” as JJ called it so she could blend in, but she also wanted to be able to fit in with these people, her friends. 

“I like that idea,” Mera said. Her voice was quiet as she tried to cover the fact that she was near tears once again. That they would do this for her, introduce her to all the things that they love to her, open themselves up to her, it meant the world. It was like she found her crew and she never wanted to lose them again. 

“Wait, Mera,” JJ said. “Do vampires exist?” 

She turned her head toward him as John B scooted toward Pope and Kie to start compiling a list of things to introduce Mera to. 

“I don’t know,” she said to him. “I’ve heard rumors though from some of my crew, but if vampires do exist I wouldn’t know.” 

“What about werewolves?” He asked. There was a giddy look in his eyes and a partial smile. 

“I couldn’t help you there either,” Mera said, disappointed in herself for letting him down. His smile faltered for a moment, so Mera spoke quickly. “But ghosts are real! And the undead too, skeletons and things of the like.” 

JJ’s mouth fell open and his eyes widened. For a moment, Mera thought she had said something wrong, but then a smile broke across his face. He threw one of his arms over her shoulders and pulled her in closer. Mera let out a quiet laugh. 

“Why didn’t you say that sooner?” He asked with a laugh.

“You didn’t ask.” 

“What else is out there?” There it was again, that look in his eyes. 

She told him as much as she could before they were roped into the other conversation. Mera listened and laughed as the four shouted out all the different things that Mera should be introduced to. At some point, it went from books and movies and music to surfing and roller skating and beer pong. The more they talked, the more excited Mera got. 

“Hey, tomorrow we should go to the Wreck!” Kiara said suddenly, perking up. 

“What is that? An abandoned ship or something?” Mera asked, remembering how they had named their party spot “the boneyard” even though there were no bones. 

“Oh, no,” Kiara laughed. “My mom and dad’s restaurant. We hang out there a lot.” 

“I have nothing other than work tomorrow,” Mera said, her smile holding fast. 

After their brief interlude, the conversation went right back to what it was before with the addition of food. Mera couldn’t help the laughter that flowed from her mouth. It was comfortable here, with her friends, her new crew. 

And all the while, she didn’t realize that JJ had never dropped his arm from around her shoulders or that every time she laughed, his eyes were on her and only her. 

Mera could only think about how right this felt. Sitting with these people laughing about nothing and everything, it was just right. 

This was safe. This was home. 


	6. Ocean Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s movie night! Mera and the gang watch the first three Pirates of the Caribbean movies. It’s all fun and games until something is triggered within Mera that sends her spiraling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this has got spoilers for the first three pirates movies, but only slightly, not much. It won’t be too bad if you haven’t seen it, it’s pretty vague. Also, I’m kind of deciding that there will be some love triangle action going on, so yay for that. Also, I’m sorry it took so long for this chapter to happen. Anyway, enjoy this chapter!!

When Mera stepped into the pod the next day, her shoulders sagged and she let out a deep sigh. She had thought that the pod had been full yesterday, yet somehow, overnight, Ward had managed to fill the pod even more. There had already been enough dread of coming back to work as it was, Mera couldn’t believe there was more in this room she would have to clean. 

“As long as he keeps paying me for it,” she grumbled to herself. Just as she started to clamber her way less than delicately through the mass of stuff toward the bathtub with her ammonia filled bag, the door squeaked open. 

“Hey,” Rafe said from behind her. 

“Hello,” she replied as she tiptoed around a dishwasher. 

“Um, how are you?” 

“Fine. You?” 

“Good, good.” 

Mera glanced behind her to see Rafe still standing by the door with a bag in his hand. His lips were pressed into a fine line and he was staring at his shoes. 

“What do you have there?” Mera asked once she reached the tub. Rafe lifted the bag. 

“Oh, I just bought, uh, donuts,” he said. “Thought you might be hungry.” 

“Why would I be hungry?” she laughed, hoisting the bag out of the tub. Rafe rolled and for a moment he looked like that arrogant boy she remembered the first time they met. 

“Those pogues you live with barely have food to feed themselves. I doubt they have the supply to feed you too,” he said. Mera scowled at him even as she lugged her bag back toward him. 

“And you wonder why I punched you in the mouth when we first met,” she scoffed. Rafe scowled at her as she dropped the bag onto the ground. The metal stove tops inside clattered to the ground, but she didn’t flinch as she kept Rafe’s gaze. 

“If you have a lecture for me, save it,” he snapped suddenly, crossing his arms. 

“I don’t lecture, Rafe,” she said and broke eye contact. She leaned down to pick the bag off the ground again. 

“Right, you just hit people you don’t agree with.” 

“No, I hit entitled, arrogant assholes who think they’re better than everyone else because their daddy has money,” she snapped, sending him a hard glare. Rafe’s mouth parted as he thought up something to say, but then he looked away from her, glaring at the ground. “You don’t want a lecture? Fine, you won’t get one from me. But don’t expect to be making friends any time soon if you keep acting like you own the world.”

“Who said I needed friends?” He asked as Mera pushed past him toward the door. Mera rolled her eyes, settling back into a scowl. 

“Hmm, I don’t know, maybe the fact that you keep following me around like a lost kitten,” she said. She stepped outside and started toward the house, looking for a faucet of some kind. 

“I don’t follow you around!” he said as he followed her outside. 

“Admit it. You’re either madly in love with me or you just really, desperately need a friend. I’d prefer the latter.” 

Rafe spluttered for a bit, crossing and uncrossing his arms as he struggled to find something decent to say. Mera found a hose and set the bag down in the grass beside it. 

“You wanna make yourself useful?” Mera snapped. “Find me a bucket or a tub or something I can use.” 

Rafe stormed away and Mera looked down at her trash bag. 

“Hey, Mera!” Someone called from above. She looked up to see Sarah hanging out a window. “How’s it going?” 

“Your brother’s a bilge rat.” 

“I don’t know what that means, but if it’s West Coast for ‘asshole’ then yeah, pretty much” Sarah said. “Anything I can do to help you?” 

Mera shook her head and let out a sigh. 

“No, I don’t think so, Sarah. It’s appreciated though,” Mera said. 

“So, uh, how’s Kiara?” Sarah asked, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. “And the others? Kiara and the others. You know, because you live with them you would know. At least, you live with John B and sometimes JJ so, of course.”

Mera felt herself smile as she tore open the trash bag. She gagged momentarily at the smell of the ammonia, but then she looked back up at Sarah. 

“They’re all good.”

“Good is good. Good is good.” Sarah let out a sigh and Mera’s smile grew. 

“You and Kiara, are you-”

“No!” Sarah said quickly. “God, no. I like men. Men only. Only men. Kiara and I were...friends back in the day.”

“Why aren’t you friends now?”

“Hold on a sec,” Sarah said before leaning back into the house. “Yeah, Dad?”

Mera waited patiently as she heard Ward and Sarah’s muffled voices. 

“Hey, Mera?” Sarah called down from above once again. “I’ve gotta go real quick, but I’ll be back soon and maybe we can chat then, yeah?” 

Mera smiled up and nodded her head. 

“Catch ya later,” the blonde said before ducking back inside. Despite how angry Mera had just been, Sarah had somehow managed to make her smile. That smile faltered when a tub was thrown at her feet. 

“I’m not in love with you,” Rafe said, standing behind Mera. She sighed and lowered her hands.

“I’ll be your friend, Rafe, on one condition,” she said, turning and standing. Rafe almost seemed to flinch at her. “Don’t make jabs at my family.”

Rafe cleared his throat. 

“Right. No more jabs.”

Mera gave her head a stiff nod. 

“Also, one more thing,” she said, holding up a finger. 

“I thought you said only one condition.” 

“This isn’t a condition. Just a favor.”

“I bought you a donut, isn’t that favor enough?”

“Listen, all I need is something to scrub these metal things down with. I’m not asking you to murder anyone or anything,” Mera said, growing slightly more irritated. 

“I think there’s one in the kitchen,” he said finally. Mera raised an eyebrow. 

“You think?” 

Rafe simply rolled his eyes, but there was a hint of a smile on his face as he walked toward the front of the house. 

~~~

“You may not want to touch me,” Mera said with a laugh, holding her hands out as Kie threw her arms around Mera’s shoulders. “I’m gross.” 

“We’re all gross,” Kie laughed. Mera held up her hands, covered in grime and black muck. Kie grimaced and Mera gave her head a little nod. 

“That’s what I thought.” 

Mera started toward the house, Kie strolling along beside her. 

“So, where are the boys?” Mera asked. 

“They’re getting snacks for movie night,” Kie said, a smile on her face. “I’m so excited. We’ve gotta start with the Pirates movies, of course, but I think you’re really gonna like Cinderella, so we’re doing that one next, no matter what JJ says.”

“So, no vampires in Santa Cruz?” 

“No vampires, period. Not until you watch Cinderella, of course.” 

Mera laughed to herself, giving her head a little shake. 

“I was given a movie suggestion today that we should add to the list,” Mera said as she walked into the bathroom. Kie settled herself onto the toilet seat, watching Mera with a wide smile. 

“Sure, what movie?” 

“Pulp Fiction, I think it was called?” Kie rolled her eyes at the suggestion.

“That’s John B’s favorite movie,” she said with a quiet huff. “Who suggested it?” 

“Oh, uh, Sarah.” 

Kie was too immediately frazzled by the mention of Sarah’s name to see the way Mera’s eyes flicked back and forth at her own lie. 

“Why were you talking to Sarah?” Kie asked, a scowl pinching her eyebrows. Mera shrugged, turning on the water and beginning to scrub at her hands. 

“She’s nice to me.” 

“She’s a two faced bitch is what she is,” Kie grumbled, pulling her knees up to her chest and scowling even harder. Mera glanced over and raised an eyebrow. 

“I feel like I am missing a vital piece of information. What happened between the two of you?” Mera continued to scrub at her hands, remembering the way Sarah blushed and stuttered after asking about Kie. There was definitely something going on. 

“She was my best friend.” There was a deep sadness in Kie’s voice that made Mera turn the water down and put more of her attention on her. “We did everything together. She was everything…. But she wasn’t who I thought she was.” 

“What did she do?” Mera tried to remember the way her father used to talk to her when she was upset, how he would lower his voice and reach out to grab her hand to keep her from shaking, how sometimes he would pretend to be distracted with something else so she didn’t feel like she was burdening him with all her troubles. Now, Mera tried to emulate that same feeling for her friend, for Kie. 

Kie scoffed, but her eyes were full of tears. 

“It sounds stupid,” the girl grumbled. Mera was tempted to put a hand on Kie’s shoulder and give her a reassuring squeeze, but her hands were still covered in filth. 

“Your pain is anything but stupid.” 

Kie looked up at Mera, her deep brown eyes still full of tears, but there was a small smile on the girl’s lips. 

“It’s movie night,” Kie said suddenly, straightening her back and blinking away her tears. “There’s no crying on movie night.” 

Mera watched as Kie shoved her feelings back down into the box she kept them in. It was a familiar sight. Mera had seen it in the mirror a million times before. 

“Right. I just have to get this _uck _off of my hands and then I’ll be ready.”__

__~~~_ _

__Mera thought that movie night would have been at the Chateau, since it was where they had spent all of their time already. She was surprised when the boys pulled up in the van, the back stocked full of snacks that Mera had never seen before in her lives, but none of the boys got out._ _

__“You sea lassies ready to go?” JJ asked from the back with a horrible pirate accent, holding the sliding door open with a smile. Mera was caught somewhere between mentioning the accent and asking where exactly they were going._ _

__“Aren’t we staying?” She asked finally while Kie climbed into the seat beside John B._ _

__“Kie’s the only one with a TV,” John B said. Mera barely had time to scowl at the unusual name before Pope started to explain it._ _

__“TV. It’s short for television. It’s like a flat box that displays the movie onto it,” Pope said, popping a red fish-like food into his mouth. JJ offered Mera a hand to help her into the van, which she took even though she really didn’t need to. When she felt her face flush, she pulled her hand from his and settled down across from him, beside Pope, who continued to prattle on about the long and exciting history of television._ _

__“JJ, hand me the notebook,” Kie said from the front seat. Mera, who had been watching Pope as he talked to her, glanced over at JJ when he didn’t respond to his friend, only to find that his blue eyes were fixed on her. “JJ!”_ _

__The boy startled and seemed to snap back into reality. He pulled a notebook from one of his many pockets and handed it to Kie, not looking at Mera. Instead, he started to fiddle with the ring on his pointer finger. An unholy array of thoughts passed through Mera’s mind before Pope elbowed her lightly in the arm and nodded toward John B._ _

__“Kie says you’re adding Pulp Fiction to the list?” John B said, looking in the rearview mirror with a large smile. Mera nodded her head._ _

__“It was recommended.”_ _

__“By who?”_ _

__“Um, Sarah,” Mera said as she glanced at Kie, who had taken to picking aimlessly at her nails._ _

__“Sarah Cameron suggested you watch Pulp Fiction?” Pope asked with a tone of disbelief. All Mera could do was smile and nod and pray that they wouldn’t push her any further. Of course Sarah hadn’t recommended Pulp Fiction. Rafe did, but there was no way that Mera was going to tell them that, especially when John B’s smile was so big._ _

__“What are these?” Mera asked, looking at all the different bags laying in front of her. JJ suddenly reentered the conversation as it turned onto food, a glimmer in his eyes._ _

__“These are hot cheetos. They didn’t have any takis, so we had to get these. Those over by Pope are Swedish Fish. They’re disgusting-”_ _

__“No they aren’t!” Pope protested, tossing two more of the red fish into his mouth._ _

__“You’re the only one who likes them. Anyway-” Mera reached over and put her hand in the Swedish fish bag, pulling out one of the oblong candies. Pope nodded his head enthusiastically for her to try it. “We got some Pringles and some Skittles and some chocolates for JB and some gummy worms and some raspberries for Kie.”_ _

__“Really?” Kie turned around in her chair again, a huge smile on her face. “I didn’t think they were in season.”_ _

__“They aren’t but Pope over here wanted to buy some for you anyway,” JJ said with a huff. Mera still held the Swedish Fish in her hand, not sure if she was actually willing to try it._ _

__“Thanks, Pope,” Kie said, turning her smile to the boy sitting next to Mera. Instead of saying anything to Kie, Pope tried to hide his sheepish smile by turning and talking to Mera._ _

__“Try it!” He said, motioning for the fish in her hand. “I promise it’s good. JJ just has jacked up taste buds from all the weed he smokes.”_ _

__JJ stuck out his tongue, but the joke was enough motivation for Mera to finally take a bite out of the candy. The outside was almost hard, but the inside was soft and gooey. Mera scowled, unsure of what to make of the sweet flavor at first._ _

__“See?” JJ said, crossing his arms. “Disgusting.”_ _

__“She hasn’t said anything yet!” Pope protested._ _

__“It’s all over her face, Poe. She hates it.”_ _

__“It’s actually not the worst thing I’ve ever eaten,” Mera said once she had chewed enough to swallow, which felt like forever._ _

__“See?” Pope sneered at his blond friend in a mocking tone._ _

__“She said not the worst, which doesn’t mean it’s any good.”_ _

__“Well,” Mera said with a smile. “When you’ve eaten gull legs, gruel, and barnacles, there isn’t a lot that doesn’t taste good.”_ _

__“There, Pope, you happy?” Kie said from the front, her leg propped up on the dash. “Swedish Fish aren’t as disgusting as seagull legs.”_ _

__Pope scowled and threw another fish in his mouth as Mera chewed quietly on her own. Mera sat back and let them all talk to each other, passing insults and jokes that Mera didn’t quite understand. But she laughed anyway because one day she would understand and one day those jokes would be funny to her too._ _

__She wasn’t sure what she expected Kie’s house to be like, but the grandiose mansion was not it. For a moment, she felt her heart plummet. But when she glanced over at Kie and saw the same look of disappointment, Mera felt a warm feeling return._ _

__“Your parents know we’re coming, right Kie?” Pope asked as he looked up at the large, white house, carrying a bag of snacks in his arms._ _

__“Of course they do,” Kie said with a roll of her eyes. “Why wouldn’t they?”_ _

__“Because last time you didn’t tell them,” JJ said. “And we got a nearly three hour lecture.”_ _

__“Right. Well, I did tell them this time.” Kie turned to Mera. “And they are so excited to meet you.”_ _

__Kie’s mom wasn’t there when the five showed up, but her dad was more than happy to welcome them inside._ _

__“Hey, Big Mike!” JJ said as they all walked inside, Kie taking the lead. Mike, Kie’s dad, did not seem impressed by JJ or his toothy grin. Pope shook his hand, which made Mr. Carrera almost smile, but he ignored John B completely._ _

__“You must be Mera,” Mike said when he finally came to her. Mera forced herself to smile and she nodded. She shook his outstretched hand._ _

__“That I am.”_ _

__“And you’re…John B’s cousin?” Mike looked between Mera and John B for a few moments, eyebrow raised just like his daughter did._ _

__“Why does no one believe that she’s my cousin?” John B grumbled, crossing his arms. Mera simply laughed._ _

__“Yes. He’s my cousin.”_ _

__“Well, I’m glad to finally meet you. You’re always welcome here,” he said, still smiling._ _

__“I didn’t get an always welcome invite,” said JJ, to which Kie rolled her eyes._ _

__“There’s a very good reason for that, JJ.”_ _

__~~~_ _

__There was only mild interrogation before Mike decided it was okay to leave them alone and lock himself away in his room. With the lights shut off, the popcorn popped, and candies in a wild array around them, all five teens wrapped themselves in blankets and settled down in front of the TV._ _

__It took some getting used to for Mera. A lot of getting used to. At first, the lights from the screen hurt her eyes and the music was so loud. But by the time the movie actually started, she stopped cringing. Mera was settled near the edge of the couch between Kie and Pope so she could steal Swedish Fish from his bag but still reach the popcorn (which, she discovered, was heaven sent. Way better than gull feet)._ _

__She let her mind stop wondering how hard it must have been to invent the thing before, stop trying to figure out how it worked, stop lamenting over her lost centuries, and let herself just enjoy the movie placed before her._ _

__It was part romance, part sea-faring adventure. Inaccurate as it was, Mera found herself enjoying it. She laughed with the jokes, shoved her face full of popcorn when things got tense, and exclaimed more than once about how _cool _Jack Sparrow was.___ _

____“Just wait till the next movies,” Kie gushed. “You’ll love them all even more.”_ _ _ _

____There was no question as to whether they would put in the next movie. In the brief time it took Kie to slide out of her spot and put the next disk in, the boys were berating Mera with questions._ _ _ _

____“How accurate was it?”_ _ _ _

____“Did you like it?”_ _ _ _

____“Did you notice when-”_ _ _ _

____“Did you ever meet Jack Sparrow?”_ _ _ _

____“Jack Sparrow’s fake, you idiot.”_ _ _ _

____“I’m pretty sure it was _Captain _Jack Sparrow.”___ _ _ _

______“Right, right.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______The second movie started and everyone went silent. Again, Mera was enthralled. There was no turning her head from the screen. If someone even opened their mouth to speak, she was shushing them instantly. She didn’t want to miss a single second._ _ _ _ _ _

______By half way through the third movie, Kie had fallen asleep on Mera’s shoulder. Pope didn’t last much longer before he too fell asleep, his empty bag of Swedish Fish fallen on the floor. John B stayed awake until the big battle started. Mera had no idea how he slept through all the cannon fire. She flinched almost every time one went off and every time, Kie would squeeze her hand in her sleep._ _ _ _ _ _

______“He’s not dead,” Mera whispered into the darkness, the first time she had spoken since the post-second movie interrogation. She looked across the couch toward JJ, who was the only one left awake. He was shocked to see the light of the television illuminated the glimmer of a tear on her face. “He can’t be.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______JJ wished he was closer, just so he could reassure her that everything would be alright. Even though her worries were relieved just seconds later, he couldn’t help but wish he was closer. He barely looked back at the screen the entire rest of the movie, watching the way her eyes lit up near the end with the scene at the beach, watching the way another tear slid down her cheek at the painful departure of the two lovers. He watched her smile at the final scenes with Jack and Barbossa and Gibbs, watched as her mouth fell open with shock when the credits started to roll._ _ _ _ _ _

______“There’s a little scene at the end,” JJ whispered to her. She finally looked over at him and nodded, trusting that he was telling the truth. She read through all of the names, mentally thanking everyone of them for their contribution until, just like JJ said, there was a small scene at the end._ _ _ _ _ _

______It was simple and it was short, but by the end of it, Mera had more than one tear rolling from her eyes. The movie ended completely and JJ shut the TV off, but Mera still stared at the now blank screen._ _ _ _ _ _

______“What did you think?” He asked, giving her a few moments to process. At first, all she could do was nod her head._ _ _ _ _ _

______“That was….” Mera let out a long sigh as she struggled to find the word that suited it best. “Epic.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“You really liked it?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______At the near giddiness in JJ’s voice, Mera finally tore her eyes from the screen to look at him and nod._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I’ll probably have to watch it a million more times.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“We have to watch Lost Boys first,” JJ said, slouching down farther in his chair. “And Interview With a Vampire.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Mera laughed quietly and Kie stirred beside her, groaning quietly in her sleep._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Kie said that we have to watch Cinderella first,” Mera told JJ as she looked down at the sleeping girl. JJ made a fake vomiting sound._ _ _ _ _ _

______“That’s a princess movie,” he said with a disgusted look on his face._ _ _ _ _ _

______“So?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Princesses are for girl’s, Mera!”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“From my experience,” Mera told him, crossing her arms gently. “Boys have been more infatuated with princesses than any other breed since the title was even thought up. More boys would give their right arm and leg to marry a princess than, say, a pirate.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“I’d marry a pirate,” JJ said confidently. Mera felt her face grow hot and she was suddenly grateful for the darkness to cover her. “I, uh, I just mean that not every guy is looking for a princess to fall in love with. That’s all.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Right, of course.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______The mood fell flat. JJ cleared his throat twice like he was going to say something else, but never did. Eventually, Mera gave up on the awkward silence._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Goodnight, JJ,” she said suddenly. “I’ll see you in the morning.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Night, Mera.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______They fell silent again. Mera tried to squeeze her eyes shut and pray for sleep, but her mind was still racing at a thousand miles a minute. Not only were the movie scenes still bouncing around her head, but she was actively trying to convince herself that JJ hadn’t just said he would marry a pirate...in the presence of a literal pirate._ _ _ _ _ _

_______Of course he didn’t mean me _, she thought to herself. _I’m not really a pirate anymore, now am I?___ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Mera didn’t realize that the movie scenes in her mindseye had shifted from what she had actually seen on the television, to something more fantastical until she was already asleep. Fiction morphed with reality until she was back on the sea once more, the taste of salt in the air as sea mist sprayed through the air._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________She was on top of the _Black Pearl _, with two captains at the helm. At first, she thought it was Jack and Barbossa, like it was in the movies, but when they both turned around, she realized that they were strangers. She didn’t recognize their faces because their features were blurred beyond comprehension. Despite not knowing what they looked like, Mera felt like she...knew them both.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Two captains of one ship. She couldn’t tell who they were, but the feeling of familiarity was too real to pass up._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________And then things got even weirder._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________She heard her father call her name, but it wasn’t the name she was used to hearing from his lips._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Mera,” he whispered to her from somewhere behind. When she turned, he wasn’t there. “Mera.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________From behind again. She spun, this time hoping to catch him standing there, but there was nothing but the sea mist. She scowled, confused as the two captains shouted contradictory orders. The boat tugged and it pulled, trying to obey the commands of both of her captains at once._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Mera!” This was a different voice. The voice of a song, but strict and stern. This time, when Mera turned, she found herself standing face to face with her siren sister, Ira. Her deep brown skin glittered in the sunlight as water dripped down her nude body. Her lips were pursed, expertly covering the fangs that hid beneath. Her brown eyes sparkled, but in every way that made Mera shiver._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“You left us,” Ira hissed. Mera heard her words inside her head, but her mouth did not move. “You abandoned your own family.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“No.” Mera shook her head and took a step backward._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Yes, Mera.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Mera!” A third voice called. Mera spun around and the ship changed. No longer was she on the _Black Pearl _with it’s two captains, but she was back on the _Iron Anchor _, her mother standing by the stern. Ira was gone._____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“Mera!” Her mother cried out. “Look out!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Mera spun around, ducking under the swing of a sword with milliseconds to spare. As she stumbled backward, still wearing the pajamas Kie had leant her, Mera realized what was happening._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Cannon fire echoed through the air, the smell of sea salt air replaced by gunpowder and burning wood. The mast of the _Anchor _lay toppled over, creating a wonderful walkway for the British ship that bobbed a few yards beside them. They were being attacked.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________She fell back into the flow of fighting almost instantly. Without any protection and no weapon, Mera needed to think smart. She ducked and evaded until she could get a clean shot at a gut or the groin, waiting for the right moment to grab a weapon._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“Mera!” Her mother’s voice called again, but from much closer. There was no time to look for her though. All Mera could do was fight to stay alive. It suddenly felt as if Mera was the only one left fighting the British, that they were all ganging up on her and she was nearly defenseless to stop them._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“Mera,” her mother said from somewhere that she couldn’t see. “None of this would have happened if you hadn’t left me.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“I’m right here, Mother,” Mera said, grinding her teeth as she fought to keep the sword of her opponent from running her through._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“You left us.” Her mother’s voice was weepy. “I lost your father and then I lost you. I am so alone.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“No!” Mera cried, shoving her opponent off of her and into another British soldier. “I’m right here.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________She heard her mother scream, the same ear splitting cry Mera had heard the day her father had been run through. Turning slowly to face the other side of the boat, Mera saw the Commander of the British ship holding a sword that was deep in Amarylis Briarheart’s gut. The same Commander that had killed her father._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“No!” Mera screamed. She ran across the suddenly empty deck, with no opposition in her path. She didn’t hesitate to grab the Commander and pull him away from her mother. They fought, just as they had done once long, long before. And just like before, the Commander sunk his sword into Mera’s side. For half a second, she felt the sting of metal tear through her flesh, and then she just felt numb. Clenching her jaw, Mera didn’t even look back at her dying mother before wrapping her arms around the Commander’s neck and leaning over the edge of the boat, toppling down deep, deep into the darkness below._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“Mera,” a voice whispered like a lullaby. She wasn’t sure if it was Ira or her mother or Kie, but the voice was quiet and calm, like a wave lapping against a quiet shore._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“Mera.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________The ocean was cold and it was dark, but Mera could barely feel anything. She recognized the numbness. It faded quickly as her lungs began to burn and the salt of the water began to stab at her wound._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________And Mera waited. She waited for Ira to come like she did before. She waited for the offer that she would accept so she wouldn’t have to die. But Ira never came._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“You took immortality from me once,” Ira’s voice said, though she was nowhere to be seen. “And you gave it up for some _boy! _”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________“He didn’t deserve to die,” Mera replied._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________“Maybe not.” There was a pause. “Then again, maybe you did.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________In one swift motion, Mera felt something tug harshly against her neck, dragging her down, down, down, away from the light of the sun and into the depths of the sea. Mera screamed, or she tried to, at least. One arm around her neck became a dozen hands across her entire body, pulling at her flesh, tearing out her hair, yanking her down to the sea floor._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________“You have blood on your hands,” an unfamiliar voice boomed throughout the ocean. “It’s time for you to pay for it, Mera.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________Her screams never stopped as the sirens she once called her brothers and sisters tore into her skin as she had done so many times, shrieking her new name as they did so as if it was an insult on their lips._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________“Mera! Mera!” They cried._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________“Mera!” The booming voice echoed._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________“Mera!” Ira hissed in her ear._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________“Mera!” Her mother shrieked for her as she fell over the side of the boat._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________“Mera!” Her dad breathed as he died._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________“Mera!” the two mysterious captains yelled, both vying for her attention._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________“Mera!” ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________With a gasp, she shot upward, her eyes snapping open._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“Mera, are you okay?” Mike Carrera knelt in front of her, holding her wrists in his strong grip. Beside him sat Kie, eyes full of worry and fear. She looked around. To Pope, who was sitting next to her still, a hand on her shoulder. To John B, who was standing behind Mike and Kie with a fist pressed to his lips. To JJ, who sat on his knees beside her, fear etched into every feature._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“What…?” She gasped for breath, noticing how hoarse her voice was. “What happened?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“You were screaming,” Kie told her quietly. “And shaking.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“It must have been a nightmare,” Mike said, dropping his hands from her wrist back to his side. Once his grip was gone from her, Mera realized how badly she was shaking. Sweat beaded down her neck and spine, her muscles refused to relax as she tried not to look at the worried faces that surrounded her._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“Yeah,” Mera murmured. “A nightmare.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“Are you okay?” Pope asked, his hand not leaving her shoulder despite how damp it was. Mera nodded her head slowly, not really trusting herself to speak._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“I’ll get you some water,” John B said. Mera didn’t even have the strength to thank him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“Why don’t you sleep in my bed?” Kie asked, leaning forward and putting a hand on Mera’s knee. She just shook her head._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“I would rather stay out here,” she said. “If that’s okay with you guys.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________She glanced at Pope and JJ, almost worried they would kick her out for waking them up._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“Of course that’s okay,” Pope said and gave her his best reassuring smile. John B returned with a cup of water that Mera took with trembling hands._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“K, can I talk to you?” Mike asked, pushing himself to his feet. Kie nodded, following after him once she had given Mera’s hand a tight squeeze._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“Here,” John B said, “We can sleep on the floor. You and Kie take the couch. It will be more comfortable that way.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________Mera couldn’t find the strength to protest. Pope and JJ almost silently moved off of the couch, dragging their blankets and pillows with them onto the floor. She flattened herself just as quietly, straining to her ears to hear what Mike and Kie were talking about. Being a siren had left her with three unchanged physical characteristics; the unnaturally sea green eyes, an unbeating heart, and ears that were very tuned in for hushed conversations. This was one of the rare moments that Mera was grateful for it._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“...anything happen at home?” Mike asked Kie._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“Not...not that I know of. She’s had a tough life, though,” Kie replied. Mera felt the all too familiar weight of embarrassment press down against her. She wanted nothing more than to sink into the holes of this far too comfortable couch and stay there forever._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“I might not know much, but I know those kinds of nightmares aren’t good for a kid,” Mike said. Mera could imagine him with his hands on his hips, a concerned dad look on his face. In the brief moments Mera had met him, he almost reminded her of her own father. It made her sad._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“She’ll be fine, Dad,” Kie said. The confidence in her voice gave Mera a little bit of hope._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“You don’t need to fix her, K.” These words were spoken even quieter than the other ones. The silence was deafening. “I know you want to fix that boy and you can’t, but that doesn’t mean you should take on another charity case.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“That’s not what this is, Dad!” Kie’s anger was evident even through her hushed tone. “JJ and Mera don’t need to be fixed. They’re not broken. They’re people who are hurt and they just need something stable and safe.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“And that has to be you?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“Not necessarily.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“But it is.” Kie was silent. “Look, baby, I know why you want to help them, but you have to take care of yourself too. They have to take care of you too.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“They do! I-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________Mera couldn’t stand to listen to any more. She rolled off the couch and tiptoed toward the sliding glass door that led to an outdoor patio. She didn’t even care to look and see if the boys were asleep yet._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________The fresh air felt good against her hot face and skin. Out in the open, she felt like she could breathe again. Lifting her head and she breathed deeply through her nose, Mera looked out toward the horizon, gazing at the glittering ocean set before her. The moon shone bright in the sky, reflecting off of the surface of the water. The stars twinkled above and shimmered below. If Mera could look past the trees and the buildings and the streetlamps, she could almost convince herself that she was back on the sea, with the wind in her hair, and the smell of the salt covering the musk of the men._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________But her moment of bliss was interrupted by the ever present ocean call. Her brothers and sisters sang to her from under the wave, luring her back to the water so she could pay the price for her sins. She had gotten a taste of what that might look like tonight in her dream and the thought scared her more than anything. The lullaby made her knees weak and she felt her breath go ragged again. It was too hot to go back inside, but she couldn’t stand being out here much longer._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________Luckily, her break came when the sliding glass door opened again._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“Hey.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________It was JJ._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________Mera brushed away a stray tear or two that managed to squeeze it’s way out of her eyes before half turning her head toward him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“Hey.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________He walked forward, joining her at the railing. He leaned up against it just like she did, looking out over the water. For a moment he was silent and she wasn’t sure he was going to say anything else. His presence was enough to drown out the siren call a little, but she knew that if he spoke, she wouldn’t be able to hear it at all. She just wanted to be rid of it._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“What were you dreaming about?” He asked finally._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“Nothing pleasant,” she told him with a sigh._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“Mmm.” He looked down at his hands. “We triggered something, didn’t we? Watching those movies?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________Mera shrugged her shoulders. It was possible. Probable, actually. But she had enjoyed herself. It was fun, until she fell asleep._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“We’ll take a break from pirates and the undead for our next movie night,” JJ told her. “We’ll watch Cinderella.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________Mera felt herself smile._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“That sounds good to me.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________When she looked over at JJ and saw the deep blue of the sea in his eyes, she felt the ocean call once again. But this was different. This wasn’t luring her to her death, but pulling her closer to something else, to him. And it wasn’t just a quiet song in the back of her mind. It was a roaring choir, a thousand times louder and a thousand times stronger._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________And a thousand times harder to resist._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


	7. Protection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hunt for the truth behind Big John’s disappearance is on. An impromptu dinner goes exactly how Mera thought it would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i kinda loved writing this chapter not gonna lie  
> there's some actual real life plot stuff going on can you believe it  
> it's completely divergent from the canon although all the same end results are gonna happen if that makes sense? anyway

“What’s in that room?” Mera asked as she passed through the hallway, following closely behind John B. He had wanted to show her something, but when they passed by the locked door that she had seen so many times before, she let her curiosity get the best of her. 

John B froze. The light and airy demeanor he usually carried around hardened and she watched him go stiff. Mera thought about taking her question back, but before she could, John B turned, looking at the door. There was a distance in his eyes, a deep pain. 

“This is my dad’s office,” he said and set a hand against the chipped wood. Mera remembered that he said something about losing his dad when they first met. Her heart sunk. Reaching out, she put a hand on his arm, making him flick his eyes toward hers. “They said he was lost at sea. Do you think….”

His painful pause and the shaking of his eyes as he looked at her told Mera exactly what the rest of his question was. 

“Show me a picture of him,” Mera said. If John B wanted to know if she had eaten his father, she would do anything to settle his mind. It would also make her feel better to know she hadn’t killed her new friend’s dad. John B walked back down the hallway a little more toward some pictures that were hung on the wall. He looked at one, a smile starting to pull on his lips. 

“Here,” he said, tapping on the glass. “That’s my dad.” 

Mera peered around John B’s shoulder and into the picture. Staring back at her was a kindly looking man with a soft smile on his lips. His hair was long and a scruffy, peppered beard grew from his face. A pair of round glasses sat on the bridge of his nose. Looking at him made Mera smile. 

“Hello,” she whispered the the man behind the glass. “My name is Mera. I’m your niece.” 

John B looked down at her, an eyebrow raised. Mera wasn’t sure why staring at this man’s face made her feel so welcome and yet so sad at the same time. His was a face she felt like she should know, but she didn’t. 

She didn’t recognize him. That was good. There wasn’t a single soul she had dragged the depths that she didn’t remember. Looking over at John B, who was staring down at her expectantly, she shook her head. 

“It wasn’t us,” Mera said and looked back at the picture. “If your father is dead, it wasn’t one of us who killed him.” 

John B let out an exasperated growl, turning away from her and running his hands through his hair. 

“Isn’t that a good thing?” She asked. “He still might be alive.”

“I don’t really care if he’s alive or if he’s dead, Mera,” he said. When he turned back to look at her, tears in his beautiful eyes. “I’m just sick of not knowing. I wake up every morning half expecting him to be passed out on the couch or working in the backyard and every morning it hits me again that he’s not here and I don’t know why.” 

Mera let out a slow sigh through her nose and nodded her head. 

“Then let’s find out,” she said firmly. 

“What?”

“You and me. And the others if they want to help. We’re all smart enough together to figure this out.” Mera crossed her arms, determination set. 

“What can we do that the cops haven’t already done?” 

Mera scoffed. 

“What are enforcers good for? All they’ve ever done in my line of business is terrorize people,” Mera said. John B almost cracked a smile as he shoved his hands into his pockets. 

“To be fair, your line of business was theft, murder, and general swashbuckling.” 

Mera nodded her head and pursed her lips. 

“Fair.” Mera took a step closer to John B, putting a hand on his arm once again. “Cos, you want answers and I want to help you get them, anyway that I can.” 

“What could we do? Where would we even start?” 

“Well,” Mera turned to look at the closed office door. “What was your dad working on before he went missing?” 

John B sighed, pressing his fingers to the bridge of his nose. 

“He was looking for the Royal Merchant,” he said. Mera remembered him mentioning that too. She nodded.

“I can help with that. I knew the survivor, Denmark Tanny. We worked together,” Mera said. John B’s eyes widened. 

“There was a survivor?” He gawked. Mera looked at him and nodded. 

“One. A slave. He lived and supposedly took the gold and-” 

John B was pulling the keys from his pocket before she could say anything else, walking toward the lock. 

Once the lock was free, John B paused with his hand on the doorknob and let out a calming breath. 

“We could call the others and wait for them,” Mera told him. “You don’t have to do this alone.”

John B looked back at her with a soft smile. 

“I’m not alone,” he said. “I have you.” 

An unfamiliar feeling bloomed throughout Mera as John B turned back toward the door and pushed it open. A smile pulled gently at her lips and there was a sting of tears in her eyes. She’d only known John B and the others for a few days. How was it that they trusted her so much? And how was it possible that she had grown to trust them? 

Mera followed after John B as he stepped into the dark and cluttered room. For a few moments, there was absolute silence as the two looked around. It was only broken by John B’s sharp intake of breath. He reached out and took Mera’s hand in his. She looked down, shocked at the sudden movement. When he squeezed her hand, she realized he was just looking for an inkling of comfort in a place that was so full of monsters and memories. 

“This looks like my father’s quarters,” Mera said to break the second silence. “His thoughts were always all over the place. No one could really ever understand his methods, except my mother.” 

John B let out a little laugh. 

“Yeah.” He walked forward, letting his hand slide out of Mera’s as he stepped up to the desk. He ran his hand over a stack of dusty papers. “He never made sense to anyone else but me.” 

“So, let’s figure out what he was working on just before he went out on that boat, who was he working with, everything.” 

“My dad didn’t work with anyone,” John B said, sliding into a chair and scooping a pile of papers into his hands. 

“Maybe something changed,” Mera replied settling herself in a chair across from him. “You never know. We need to go through every possible option.” 

“Then we’re going to need more hands.” 

“I’ll call the others.” 

An hour later, JJ, Pope, and Kie were all standing in the office, looking around in awe. 

“I’ve slept over a million times,” Pope said as he spun in slow circles, taking in everything. “And I’ve never once seen that door opened.” 

“Me neither,” said JJ, who was poking at a board of old pictures. 

“What can we do?” Kie asked, putting her hands on the back of Mera’s chair and leaning over her shoulder to read the papers she was holding. 

“We’re just trying to find out what he was doing before he left,” John B said. “Just read anything you can get your hands on. Whatever seems important put in this pile over here.” 

Kie nodded her head. 

“Will do, Boss.” She picked up a stack of papers, hopped up onto a counter and started reading. Pope followed suit, but JJ kept wandering. 

“Aren’t you going to help?” Mera asked, peering up at him. JJ shrugged, picking some paint off of the wall. 

“My attention span doesn’t like sitting and reading for extended periods of time,” he said with a playful smile. Mera raised an eyebrow. 

“Well, here. Look through these pictures then. See if anything stands out to you,” she said, shuffling through some of her papers and handing them to him. He smiled at her. 

“Yes, ma’am,” he said in a southern drawl. 

“Thank you, darling,” she mocked before returning to her papers. Once again, she missed the red tint of JJ’s ears as she looked away. What she didn’t miss was the way John B cocked a brow at her when she glanced up at him. 

“What?” she said. John B shook his head and let out a little laugh. 

“Nothing, cos.” 

They spent the next few hours doing nothing more than this. Except JJ, who had to go outside and kick a tree for a few minutes to take out his pent up energy. Eventually, John B set down his papers and let out a heavy breath. 

“Anyone else starving?” he asked. 

“God, I thought you’d never ask,” Pope groaned, putting his papers down. 

“I call shotgun!” JJ pulled himself all the way into the house (having been sitting in an open windowsill, one leg outside and one in) and ran for the front door. Kie rolled her eyes as Pope raced after him. 

“The Wreck?” Kie asked, sliding off of the counter where she’d been perched. 

“Sure,” John B said. Kie nodded her head as she lifted her arms, stretching out her back. Mera pushed herself out of the seat and dropped a hand on John B’s shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. 

“Thank you,” he said to her, staring down at a picture of him and his dad. Mera just gave him a smile before falling in step with Kie. 

~~~

It wouldn’t be a day on Kildare Island if everything went perfectly to plan. 

As soon as the bus pulled up to the Wreck, JJ let out an over-exaggerated groan from the front seat. He stopped flicking his lighter lid. 

“Looks like we’ve got company,” he said. Mera turned and peered out the front window. Her stomach dropped when she saw Rafe standing out by his motorcycle with Topper, Sarah, and another boy that Mera hadn’t yet met. 

“We’ll just ignore them and they’ll ignore us,” Pope said confidently. 

“Because that always works so well,” grumbled John B as he put the bus in park. 

“As long as JJ doesn’t say anything stupid and Mera doesn’t punch anybody, we’ll be fine,” Pope said, his tone no less confident than before. Mera and JJ locked gazes and both rolled their eyes. 

Kie was the first to open the side door, uncharacteristically silent. Of course she was. Sarah was there. Mera fully intended on getting to the bottom of their fued, hoping that she could somehow help to mend it, but now was definitely not the time, especially not when Rafe was standing right there. 

Their secret friendship had to stay secret, for her sake and for his. All Mera could do was pray that he wouldn’t call attention to her as she clambered after Kie, who spared no time in strolling up to the Wreck as if the other group of teens weren’t there. 

“Oh, hey, John B,” Topper said, smiling as the boys got out of the car. 

“Ignore him,” Pope whispered. Mera slowed to a stop, turning just enough to indicate she was waiting for her friends. Her gaze passed over Rafe’s briefly and she stiffened. They both looked away. 

“Hi, Mera,” Sarah said with a smile. “How are you?” 

“I’m going well,” Mera replied with a smile. Topper snaked an arm around Sarah’s waist. Mera heard Kie suck in an irritated breath from behind. “Just hungry.” 

“Aren’t we all,” Rafe said, putting his hands up in the air. “What if we all ate together? My treat.” 

There was a series of eyerolls from everyone present. The only one who seemed to like the idea was Rafe, who was smiling. He met Mera’s gaze again and she pressed her lips together, doing her best to communicate how badly she did not want to be doing this. 

“Come on.” Rafe elbowed Topper, who knocked into Sarah, who sent her brother a death glare as she wrapped her arms around her stomach. “It’ll be fun.” 

Everyone was frozen solid, rooted where they stood. Mera glanced over at JJ, whose jaw was clenched tight, his gaze fixed on Rafe in a glare. 

“I don’t care what we do,” Pope said tentatively, speaking as if he was walking on glass. “I just wanna eat.” 

“So it’s settled.” Rafe walked forward and clapped JJ on the shoulder with one of his large hands. Mera flinched. Rafe turned toward her, walking up the ramp right past her. “This will be fun, yeah?” 

Mera gave him her best glare as he walked by. Topper, Sarah, and the other boy followed after him quickly, but it took the others a little bit longer.

“So much for ignoring them,” John B grumbled to Pope who sighed and dipped his head. 

“Why can’t we just have one normal meal?” He whined as the two of them walked toward the glass door. 

“Are we really doing this?” Kie asked, arms crossed as she watched Sarah and Topper slid into the booth that her father had led them to. 

“Do we have a choice?” Mera replied, her eyes fixed on Rafe who wore the biggest innocent smile she had ever seen. Her hands clenched into fists and she heavily considered punching him in the face again. 

“I vote we make a break for it,” said JJ, standing on the other side of Mera. 

“You’re really gonna run away from free food?” Mera asked him. He sighed and his stomach rumbled in response to her question. “Right. In we go.” 

“Hey, Dad,” Kie said as she pushed the door open. 

“You want to explain to me what exactly is happening here?” Mike Carrera said, leaning over the counter. 

“If I could, I would tell you,” Kie said and rolled her eyes, making her dad chuckle. 

“Mera,” Mike said, turning to look at her. “How are you doing?” 

“Better, thank you,” Mera told him. She had come up with an easy lie that she ate too many Swedish Fish and they gave her strange dreams and that nightmares weren’t usual occurrences for her. Still, he seemed to worry. 

“You ever need anything, you let me know,” he told her before nodding over at JJ. “JJ.”

“Hey,” was the boy’s response. 

Mera followed Kie and JJ to the table. Kie sat as far away from Sarah as she possible could, sitting in between John B and the edge of the table across from Pope. JJ sat between Sarah and John B, leaving only one spot for Mera. Right across from him, in between Rafe and the other boy. She gave JJ a quick glare, but he didn’t see it. 

Mera slid into her seat as quietly as she could, not wanting to draw attention to herself. 

“I’m Kelce,” the boy said, extending a hand for her. Mera shook it amicably and gave him a strained smile. She turned her back almost completely on Rafe to give Kelce her full attention (and to pretend that Rafe was not there). 

“Mera.” 

“Rafe says you’re new around here.” 

“Yeah, I just moved from California.” 

“Really? Why would you trade California for this?” Kelcce laughed. 

“Oh, you know, family or something like that,” Mera glanced over to John B with a smile, who pretended to be way too interested in the menu. 

“You have family in the OBX?” Kelce asked as he took a drink of water.

“John over there is my cousin,” Mera said, pointing at him. Kelce choked on the water he was drinking, forced to cover his mouth with his hand. 

“No fucking way.” 

Mera laughed as she watched John B roll his eyes and mutter something under his breath. 

“Yes fucking way.” 

“Well, damn.” Kelce and Mera both laughed for a moment. “I’m glad to finally meet you. Rafe talks about you all the time.” 

Mera felt ice run through her veins and she felt her cheeks heat up. Rafe spluttered through his own drink from the other side of her. Across the table, JJ tightened his grip around his knife. 

“All good things, I’m sure.” Mera tried to keep the sneer out of her voice, but she wasn’t sure she succeeded. 

Mike came over to take orders just after that. JJ asked for the most expensive thing on the menu, sending Rafe a cocky smirk which made Mera huff angrily. Rafe seemed completely unphased and ordered the exact same thing. 

Rafe ignored Mera most of the night, so she was caught in pleasant small talk with Kelce, which wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be. Considering who his friends were, he wasn’t the worst person to have a conversation with. She felt JJ tap her shin from underneath the table, making her look at him. She had to stifle a bout of laughter when she saw two straws sticking out of his nose. 

“Watch this,” he said, leaning the straws into his almost completely full water cup. 

“JJ, no,” Kie pleaded, dropping her chin into her propped up hands. Mera just watched on with an amused smile on her face. He sent her a wink just before blowing as much air out of his nose and through the straws as possible. Mera nearly shrieked with laughter as the water started to bubble as if it was boiling, spilling over the rim and onto the table. 

“Classy,” Rafe said, his voice tight. 

A waiter brought out their food. It was a mad scramble to get all the right things, but when everyone finally had their meal, the tension started to build up once again. 

“So, Mera,” Sarah said, twisting her fork around the shrimp pasta. “There’s a party at my house this weekend and I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go.” 

“Oh, um-” 

Kie slammed her water cup down on the wood table. 

“You’re just going to invite her and not everyone else here?” Kie asked, gripping the glass in her hand so tight that Mera was afraid she was going to shatter it. Pope and John B ate slowly, their eyes flicking between Sarah and Kie. Kelce seemed completely unbothered, minding his own business as he ate. JJ and Rafe were caught in an eating-slash-glaring contest. 

“It’s Top’s birthday,” Sarah said, placing a hand over Topper’s that made Kie glare even harder. “I didn’t think you would come if I asked.” 

“You could have asked anyway.”

“Kiara, do you want to come to Topper’s birthday this weekend?” Sarah asked, her voice tight and rising steadily. 

“No, I fucking wouldn’t,” Kie hissed, shoving her chair backward and storming off. Mera cringed, standing to follow her. For the first time since sitting down, Rafe acknowledged her presence by grabbing onto her elbow.

“Don’t touch her,” JJ said. 

“I can speak for myself, JJ,” Mera snapped. She snatched her arm from Rafe’s grip. “Don’t touch me.” 

“My sister asked you a question, Mera,” he said, looking up at her. Mera sighed. 

“Sarah, thank you for the offer. I’ll have to think about it,” Mera said, trying to give Sarah an honest smile. Sarah just nodded, pulling her hand from Topper’s and leaning back in her chair, looking defeated. “Happy early birthday, Topper.” 

“Thank you, Mera.” The smile the boy gave her felt fake, but she wasn’t sure why. 

Pope stood up from his chair, obviously still thinking about Kie, and went to find her. 

“This fish is really good,” John B said, looking at his plate as he tried to fill the awkward silence that followed Pope’s departure. 

“Yeah,” Kelce agreed. Mera had barely even touched her food, but her stomach was rolling with discomfort. 

“You wanna take this outside?” Rafe growled, suddenly standing up. 

“Let’s fucking go, dude,” JJ snapped in return. 

“What-” 

Mera didn’t even have time to ask a question before both boys booked it for the front door. 

John B and Topper glanced at each other for a moment before following after their friends. 

“Topper!” Sarah cried. Soon, she too was gone. Mera let out a sigh, slouching in her chair while Kelce continued to eat his food in peace. 

“They’re fighting, aren’t they?” Mera huffed, looking at her food. Kelce nodded slowly. 

“They’re definitely fighting.” 

“How’s the fish?” She asked, picking up her spoon again to start eating. Somewhere outside, there was a scream and a loud crashing sound. 

“It’s amazing. Mr. Carrera always makes the best food.” 

“Could I try a bit?” 

“Sure, as long as I can try some of that soup.” 

Kelce and Mera swapped dishes as the sounds of shouting grew louder. 

“Man, that is some good soup,” Kelce said. 

“Right?” They swapped plates again. “And that fish is cooked to perfection.” 

“It always is.” 

“Do you think Sarah would mind if I…?” Mera nodded toward Sarah’s nearly full plate. Kelce shook his head. 

“She’s not likely to come back for it.” 

“Great. You want some?”

“Hell yeah.” 

The two picked food off of the left over plates, chatting back and forth and moaning over how good all the food was until the front door burst open once again. 

“Mera,” a sweaty and bloody faced John B said. “We’re leaving.” 

Mera stood up quickly, grabbing one last roll of bread. 

“It was wonderful to meet you, Kelce,” she said as she shimmied around him. 

“And you too,” he replied. “We should do this again sometime.” 

Mera looked outside and grimaced. 

“Maybe not.” 

“Nah, probably not.” 

“See you around?” 

“Yup.” 

With that, Mera rushed outside to join her friends in the bus. 

“Fat load of help you were,” JJ huffed at Mera as she held an ice pack to his eye. She narrowed her eyes at him. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t want to the food to go to waste,” she said. 

“You sat there and ate with Kelce while we got beat up?”

“Yes, because I try not to act like a child,” she snapped at him. JJ grumbled and crossed his arms over his chest. Kie drove and Pope was in the passenger seat, leaving Mera in the back with the bloodied up boys. It wasn’t anything too serious, just a few bruises and a busted lip or two, but they still looked miserable. 

“Well, that was delightful,” Pope mused in a mocking tone. “And I didn’t even get to finish my dinner.” 

“Trust me, it was really good,” Mera told him. He turned around and stuck his tongue out at her, making her laugh quietly. “On the bright side, Rafe still had to pay for everything.” 

That didn’t really make anyone else feel any better. 

“What’s going on with you and Rafe anyway?” JJ asked. Mera scowled down at him, her heart starting to pound. 

“Nothing. I work at his house, that’s all,” she told him as she moved over to John B to help him clean the blood off of his nose. 

“I work at his house and there’s nothing weird between us,” John B said. 

“Hate to break it to you, buddy,” Pope said, “but you’re not a smoking hot girl.” 

Mera’s face flushed as Kie scolded Pope, who didn’t really seem to understand what exactly he had said wrong until it was too late. 

When Mera looked back at JJ, he was still watching her carefully. He wasn’t glaring like he was before, but he definitely wasn’t happy. He was getting suspicious. She did her best to smile at him before finally settling down. They were mostly silent all the way back to the Chateau. The only sound to be heard was the rumbling of Pope’s stomach. 

~~~

Pope and John B raided the fridge when they got back, nearly fighting over the only non-expired can of yogurt. Kie went straight home. JJ flopped on the couch, pulling a magazine out from under his pillow. He refused to look up at Mera as she leaned against the wall, laughing quietly as Pope and John B bickered. 

She had a feeling that JJ was mad at her. Part of her wanted him to just come out and say it so that she could just explain everything without feeling like an idiot. Another part of her wanted to ignore him right back. She went with the latter choice. The rest of the night, Mera and JJ didn’t speak to each other, talking instead through Pope and John B, who were far too hungry to notice. 

By the time everyone was ready for bed, Mera could barely keep her eyes open. 

“Night,” she called sleepily to the boys, who had all elected to sleep on the pullout together, leaving her the spare room. 

“Night,” Pope and John B chorused, already half asleep. 

“Night, princess.” 

Mera was almost too sleepy to hear JJ. Almost. 

~~~

Going to work the next day was probably one of the most nerve wracking things she had done in a long while. Even if Rafe blamed her for how last night ended, Mera didn’t care. He had started it. She was more than prepared to take him on in a duel if that was what he wanted. She was mostly afraid that word would get back to Ward and he would fire her or that Sarah wouldn’t want to be her friend anymore. Neither of which sounded fun to her. 

Luckily, Sarah greeted her with the same smile she did every morning and Ward was nowhere to be found. 

“Did you think about coming to Topper’s birthday tomorrow night?” Sarah asked, helping Mera move a large fridge out of the way so she could dust off a wooden nightstand. 

“Not yet,” Mera said. “Last night was a little bit crazy.” 

Sarah rolled her eyes. 

“If my brother wasn’t such a dick all the time, I think I could actually make friends with you guys. I just wish his reputation hadn’t tarnished mine.” There was a real sadness in her voice as she spoke. 

“I don’t think it’s your brother,” Mera told her truthfully. Sarah froze. 

“What?” 

“It’s Kiara. Whatever happened between you two, that has to be fixed before there’s any hope at all of you being friends with the others.” 

Sarah seemed to deflate.

“Kiara will never forgive me,” she said. 

“I don’t believe that.” 

When Sarah looked up at Mera, there were large tears in her eyes. 

“I fucked up, Mera,” she whispered, her words shaking and full of grief. “Real bad. And it’s been so long and I let the bad blood between us go on for too long and I don’t think I can ever make things right with her again.” 

Mera sighed and put a hand on Sarah’s shuddering shoulder. 

“Do you want to make things right?” Sarah nodded vehemently. “Then don’t give up. Kie will come around eventually.” 

Sarah nodded again, slower this time, and swallowed. 

“Do you want me to find you some stain or something for that?” Sarah asked, pointing at the nightstand. “It’ll make it look better.” 

“I would really appreciate that, Sarah,” Mera said with a smile. 

“Be right back.” 

Rafe didn’t come to see Mera at all that day, or the next day for that matter. Mera was disappointed only because she wanted to fight at him so badly. JJ was warming up to her again, but still really only spoke to her on the rare occasion. Mera was also ready to fight him too. Hell, she was prepared to fight them both if it came down to it. All she would need was a sword….

“So, Mera,” John B said from across the table, pulling her from her thoughts. “You decided if you’re going over to Sarah’s tonight?” 

“Um, yeah, actually,” Mera said, shaking her head. “I was going to head over in a bit. Sarah is going to lend me something to wear.” 

John B nodded his head slowly, but JJ just crunched on his burnt toast. 

“You’ll be careful, right?” John B said. Mera watched him carefully for a few seconds. 

“You’re not seriously going to father me right now.”

“What?” 

“My own father has said those exact same words to me before a party,” Mera said, now trying to hide a smile. John B scowled, flustered. 

“I’m not...I just wanna make sure...I mean, you’re kinda my responsibility and I want you to be safe,” John B said, crossing his arms. Mera couldn’t help but laugh as she stood and stood next to him.

“Sure, Dad.” Her comment made John B roll his eyes. 

“Be sure to bring protection,” JJ said almost bitterly. The light atmosphere dampened as Mera and John B both turned to look at him. 

“I don’t have a sword,” Mera told him. JJ’s eyelids fluttered shut and she could tell that he was trying not to laugh at her, which made her mood turn sour. 

“That’s not the kind of protection he means,” John B said with a slight upturn of a smile. She scowled down at him, not really wanting to ask for an explanation but hoping he would give one anyway. “He’s talking about condoms, dear cousin.” 

“I’m unfamiliar with the term.” 

“You’re telling me you went out tapping without condoms?” JJ asked, leaning forward on the table, crossing his hands in front of him. “Yeesh.” 

“Will one of you please act like a grownup and explain to me what you’re talking about?” Her tone was harsher than she had meant it, but it seemed to snap John B into order. 

“They’re for sex, Mera. You...wrap your willy with it to protect from diseases and to keep the girl from getting pregnant,” John B said, refusing to look at her. 

“Oh. Hmm. That sounds rather useful. I’ll be sure to bring one of those then,” she said. “Thank you, JJ.” 

He blanched at her statement. 

“No, you weren’t-” He froze and scowled. “Fine. Whatever. Do what you want.” 

With that, he pushed him out of his seat and walked out the front door. 

“I’m extremely confused,” Mera said. “Do you mind explaining to me what just happened?” 

“I may be thinking that JJ doesn’t want you sleeping with anyone at that party,” John B explained, his eyes fixed on the door, a small smirk on his face. He looked up at Mera, who continued to scowl. 

“I don’t see the problem,” she said. John B heaved out a sigh and pushed himself out of his chair. He dropped a hand on her shoulder and pressed his lips into a fine line. 

“I don’t either. I mean, JJ goes after any one who has a heartbeat. I can’t imagine why he’d be upset with you for doing the same thing.” 

With that, John B walked toward the back of the house, leaving Mera alone in the silence, painfully aware of the dead heart that refused to beat in her chest. 

~~~

Mera stood scowling in front of the mirror. Sarah stood off to the side, trying to hide an excited grin behind her hands. 

“Do you like it?” 

Mera hummed quietly to herself. She didn’t quite know yet if she liked the outfit. Sarah had put her in a loose white top with long, flowing sleeves, almost similar to the kinds of blouses that Mera was used to wearing. But the sleeves came off the shoulders and the collar dipped a little lower than Mera may have been comfortable with. Sarah paired the shirt with a brown skirt that twirled beautifully, but was rather short. It was the color and the fabric type that Mera might have worn as pants, but never this cut. There were sandals on her feet, but she was sure she was going to take them off. Her hair was braided and Sarah had even put makeup on her. It was completely different from what she remembered makeup being like. 

Somehow, the person staring at her looked like her, but didn’t look like her at the same time. 

“Wait, I have an idea,” Sarah said, running toward one of her dressers. “It’ll just tie the entire thing together.” 

She returned with a thick, dark brown belt. It was less of a belt and more of a corset. Mera’s eyes widened at the sight of it. She had always wanted a corset, but her mother had never let her get one. 

“Turn around.” 

Mera did as she was told and Sarah wrapped the thing around her, clipping it behind her back. Mera expected there to be some tightness or discomfort, but she felt perfectly fine. Turning back toward the mirror, Mera nodded her head. It did really pull the entire outfit together. The large buckle in the front reminded her of a belt that she used to wear almost daily. The smile on Mera’s face became real as she smoothed out the skirt. 

“I love it,” she said, looking at Sarah. “Thank you.” 

“No problem,” Sarah said with a wave of her hand. “Anything for you. Come on now, the boys will be waiting for us.” 

Sarah hooked her arm through Mera’s and started to pull her toward the door. 

“The...the boys? Why?” 

“They’re our protection for the night.” Mera scowled. That was the second time she had heard that word and this time, she didn’t think it meant a sword or a condom. 

“I’m confused.” 

“Listen, two beautiful girls like us can’t go to a party alone, not even in our own house. You need someone to always hold your drink while you’re in the bathroom. You need someone watching your back while you’re dancing or playing games. Topper is looking out for me, obviously, and Kelce said he’d look out for you. Naturally, that means they are our dates.” 

“Wait, what? Drinks? Dates? Kelce?”

“I asked Rafe to watch out for you, but he said he wasn’t coming, so I had to ask Kelce. Haven’t you gone to a party before? Always make sure someone is watching your drink so you don’t get drugged. It’s rule number one.” 

“God,” Mera breathed as Sarah pulled her down the stairs. 

“Yeah, crazy world, right? Girls can’t go to a simple birthday party without being afraid of getting attacked.” It was a serious subject to Mera, something she had seen happen so many times that she was almost shocked to hear how casually Sarah was talking about it. But then she realized that Sarah spoke so plainly because it was so rampant. Sarah had desensitized herself to the reality of the world so she could still enjoy a night with her friends without the crippling fear of being assaulted. 

“I’ll protect you,” Mera said seriously, pulling Sarah to a stop. “No one will hurt you.” 

Sarah gave her a soft smile and squeezed her hand. 

“Thank you. I will always have your back, too.” 

Even though Sarah looked calm, Mera could feel her heart pounding through her hands. 

“Come on, the boys are waiting,” Mera said, a smile spreading across her face. 

“Damn right they are.” Walking up the stairs was Topper and Kelce, both dressed spiffily. 

“Baby!” Sarah cried, running forward to embrace her boyfriend. “Happy birthday!” 

“Thanks, babe,” he said, putting his arms around Sarah’s shoulders and giving her a kiss. 

“Happy birthday,” Mera told him as Kelce walked forward to stand beside her. Topper barely heard her, too occupied with Sarah’s lips. “They’re not going to talk to us for the rest of the night, are they?”

Kelce sighed and shook his head. 

“It’s unlikely.” 

“Great.” 

“You wanna head down? Everything’s in full swing.” 

Mera sucked in a deep breath, calming her nerves the best she could before nodding. 

“Why the hell not?” 

Kelce walked beside Mera as they made their way down the steps. Mera’s eyes scanned the crowd of people waiting at the bottom and she felt her breath hitch. 

“You good?” Kelce asked. Mera nodded, but her teeth were sinking into her lower lip until she tasted blood. 

“I just haven’t been around this many people in a long time,” she told him honestly. “It’s a bit overwhelming.” 

“I take it you weren’t a party girl in California.” 

“No, I definitely was. I’ve just been...away…from the lifestyle for a while.” 

“Well,” Kelce said with a heavy sigh. “Why don’t we just walk through these people to that bar over there and drink until we’re drunk. How about that?” 

Mera felt herself smile and she nodded. 

“I would love that.”


	8. Driftwood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the party goes just about as well as you can imagine. After a run in with a boy, Mera is sent reeling. The ocean call turns out to be more than just a beckoning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there are some heavy themes in this chapter. Nothing explicit happens, but Mera is drugged, so there are the affects of that. Nothing goes too far and none of it is described in great detail, but still, please read at your own risk. Your mental health is the most important thing to me, so please don’t push yourself. Also, a guy gets the shit beat out of him, so there’s mentions of blood.

Kelce and Mera were plastered by the time the hour was up. Three rounds of a new and exciting game called “Beer pong”, 2 shots of some white liquid, and four smalls cups of rum later, the two were giggling like school girls by the fish tank.

“Glub, glub,” Mera said, making a fish face.

“You’re too much,” Kelce laughed, one hand on his belly and the other on her shoulder.

“Why are you friends with these people?” Mera asked with a laugh as she turned from the fish tank toward Kelce. His smile fell away pretty quickly and the joy seemed to fade from his eyes.

“What do you mean?”

“You and Sarah. You hang around people who are generally insufferable, tolerable at best. But you are kind and funny and caring. I don’t understand it.” Mera shook her head and looked back at the fish, who stared up at her with large, beady eyes.

“Why are you friends with the pogues?” Kelce asked in gentle retaliation. Mera snapped her head around to look at him. “They’re loud and obnoxious and don’t take a lick of responsibility for anything. I can’t wrap my mind around it.”

Mera stared at him for a moment, before she fully understood and gave a soft smile.

“You’re trying to tell me there’s more to people than what we see on the outside,” she said. Kelce nodded slowly and took a sip from his cup. “I guess I understand. Though I can’t imagine there are many good qualities to Rafe Cameron.”

Kelce laughed loudly again, which made Mera smile even wider.

“He’s a real pain in the ass 90% of the time,” Kelce agreed. “But he’s also extremely loyal. He’d do anything for me or Topper, Sarah and Wheezie, probably even you at this point.”

Mera scowled.

“I just work for his dad,” she said. Kelce shrugged.

“He cares about you. Don’t know how you did that-”

“I didn’t do it on purpose,” Mera snapped and Kelce chuckled.

“I know, Mera.” Kelce decided it was best to keep the conversation off of Rafe for a while. “Why don’t we go get some water? Sober up a bit before we go in for round two.”

Mera nodded her head.

“And then dancing.”

“Sure. Then dancing.”

Mera was feeling no less wasted after three cups of water than she had felt before. Still, she made her way to the dance floor with Kelce. She could barely hear the lyrics over the loud pounding sound that these people were calling ‘music’, but it didn’t matter. Music was music and Mera could dance to anything.

She remembered what JJ and Kie had taught her about dancing. It wasn’t usually a partner thing and there was almost no jumping, unless the ‘beat’ dropped and then there was minimal jumping. Mera swayed her hips and lifted her arms, closing her eyes and letting the music move her as it pleased.

She could feel Kelce’s presence behind her, his arm or his hand brushing against her back as they both moved in sync. Eventually, she turned around to face him, like she did with Kie. He looked down at her and raised an eyebrow, making her laugh again. She put her hands on his shoulders, feeling slightly light headed from the loud music and the lights and maybe something else.

“You good?” He asked, nearly shouting to be heard. She nodded her head. Kelce put a hand on her waist anyway to help keep her steady.

Mera didn’t see Rafe weed his way through the crowd of dancing people. Not until he bumped into her to tap Kelce on the shoulder.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, glaring up at him. She was still bitter about him starting the fight the other night. And only slightly disappointed that he hadn’t come to the party sooner.

Rafe glanced down at her but didn’t say anything.

“I need to talk to you,” Rafe said to Kelce.

“Sure,” Kelce said. He slipped his hand into Mera’s so she wouldn’t get lost in the crowd. “This way.”

“No, dude.” Rafe put a hand on his shoulder to stop him from walking forward. “Just you. I don’t want her there.”

Mera stiffened and her scowl deepened. Was he also upset at her for not jumping into the fight at dinner? Was it suddenly her job to keep both JJ and Rafe in line? If that was the case, Mera wanted no part of it.

“I can’t just leave her, dude,” Kelce said.

“I’m a big girl.” Mera snatched her hand from his, her glare at Rafe hardening even further. “I’ll be fine.”

Kelce looked back at her, worry on his features.

“Sarah said-”

“Kelce, seriously.” She put a hand on his arm. “I’ll just go to the bathroom or something.”

Kelce glanced between Rafe and Mera for a few moments before conceding with a sigh.

“Come on.” Rafe dragged Kelce out through the swarm of people, leaving Mera standing alone while the others danced on.

Now in a sour mood, Mera pushed her way out through the crowd and found herself somewhere more quiet. She could finally breathe away from all the people. Sucking in deep lungfuls of air, Mera closed her eyes and tried to quiet her buzzing mind.

“Another drink?” Someone said from beside her. Mera looked up, eyebrow cocked. Standing there with a red solo cup in his hand was a tall boy with striking green eyes and dark hair. He looked almost familiar, but Mera couldn’t place it. Her eyebrow fell and a smile grew on her face.

“I probably shouldn’t,” she said. The boy in front of her smirked and Mera had to push away an uneasy feeling. What did Sarah say earlier? Something about something happening to girls at parties, but Mera’s mind was too boggled to remember. She really needed to get some water, maybe some peanuts. She really needed to find Sarah.

“Come on, pretty thing,” he said, his eyes scanning her body. Mera’s smile collapsed instantly and she felt the urge to punch him in the face. The only thing holding her back was the ringing in her ears. “Just one drink?”

It was like Mera couldn’t control her own body. She reached out for the cup, her mind screaming at her to stop while her limbs worked their own will. She watched herself grab the cup, watched herself take a slow, small sip, watched the boy’s smile turn into a twisted grin.

But it wasn’t just the boy whose face was beginning to distort with every second that the alcohol was in her system. The world around her warped. A candle flame danced somewhere to her left, but when she turned to look at it, it moved. Her limbs grew heavy and then almost numb. The cup slipped from her hand and fell to the ground. Mera scowled as the liquid seeped out of the cup and onto the floor.

“I don’t feel-”

Her legs gave way from underneath her and she staggered.

“Woah, there,” the boy said, catching her in his arms.

“Just...just lost my sea legs is all,” Mera stammered, her mouth not moving like she expected. She couldn’t even feel her lips touching together.

“Let me take you somewhere that you can lie down,” the boy said, his grip on her the only thing that she could really feel.

“Ow,” she muttered. “No, I think I just need to find Sarah.”

“I’ll take you to her.”

“No, I-” She breathed in deeply through her nose, but she couldn’t feel it. “Where’s Sarah? I need to find Sarah.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll see her soon.”

Mera didn’t even realize that he was pulling her toward the backdoor until the cool air hit her face. For just a moment, she felt her senses clear.

“Let me go,” she said, tugging on her numb arm.

“I’m just trying to help.” The boy’s words were distorted and deep, as if he was speaking through water. Mera turned to look at him and he stared back at her with bottomless eyes, all the beautiful green gone.

Her mind faded into the background as she watched the boy start to pull her away from the house and toward the shore. Something about the dark water seemed daunting. She wasn’t supposed to go in there, but she couldn’t remember why.

“No,” she said, her voice quiet and weak. She tried to stop her feet from moving, pulling back on her arm.

“Come on,” he coaxed, giving her a tug. She stumbled forward onto the sandy beach. Mera blinked, trying to shake away the fuzziness. Something was very, very wrong, but she just couldn’t put her finger on it.

“Here’s a good spot,” the boy said, though he still sounded a million miles away. Mera staggered as she turned to look at him again, pulling her attention from the gentle waves.

“I shouldn’t be here,” she told him. Her own voice sounded distant, as if she herself was far under the waves.

“Baby, we can go wherever you want.” He stepped toward her, reaching out his hand. Scowling, Mera lifted her hand to slap his away, but she moved too slowly and he grabbed her wrist. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

With his other hand, the boy whose name that Mera didn’t even know reached out to touch her cheek. His hand was cold and calloused. Mera’s eyebrows pinched together as his hand left her cheek and trailed down her neck. A shiver ran down her spine, but not in a good way.

“ _Mera_!” A voice cried, cutting through the distortion that she felt.

“What was that?” She asked, turning her head slowly.

“I said you were hot,” the boy told her. Mera shook her head. That was wrong. That wasn’t what she heard.

“ _Mera_!” The voice called again. This time, Mera could almost tell where it was coming from. The waves crashed harder against the shore, almost like a warning. The boy stepped closer to her until he was only a breath away. Her scowl deepened, a sick feeling in her stomach. No matter how loudly she screamed at her legs to move, her body stayed motionless. Even as the boy put a hand behind her neck, knocking her legs out from underneath her and leading her to the sand below.

“Your eyes are so pretty,” he said, twirling a strand of her black hair around his finger. Mera wanted to vomit. If she could have rolled over and emptied her guts right there, she would have.

“ _Mera! You are stronger than this!_ ” The voice called out to her from the water. “ _You are stronger than_ him _!_ ”

Mera blinked hard once and then again, just as the boy leaned forward to smash his lips to hers.

“No,” she ground out through her teeth, her voice a little stronger than before. Still, the boy didn’t listen. His lips were slimy like seaweed as he smushed them against hers. Mera wriggled uncomfortably underneath him trying to free herself.

“Just stop squirming,” the boy growled, putting his hand on Mera’s hip to keep her against the sand.

“ _Get up, Mera!_ ” The voice cut through the haze of her ears and Mera finally felt life return to her left arm.

With a muffled whimper, she reached out to her side, meeting nothing but sand.

“ _Up, Mera! You are stronger than this!_ ”

She struggled underneath the boy again as he tugged her shirt out from her skirt. She patted around in the soft sand, searching for something that would help her break free. Her legs and other arm were still unresponsive and her one working arm was not enough to get the boy off of her.

“ _You are a daughter of the sea, Mera._ ” She strained her arm to reach farther. “ _You are a tempest and you are deadly. Men used to cower in your presence._ ” The boy’s hand burned against her skin as he snaked his way farther up her shirt. “ _They once told horror stories of you and your fangs that could pierce flesh and your eyes deeper than the sea itself._ ” Mera’s static thoughts slowly started to clear, her breathing becoming more erratic. “ _You abandoned us, Mera. But you are still one of us._ ” Mera’s hand finally found something solid. She curled her fingers around a piece of driftwood. “ _Remind Man that you are still to be feared._ ”

With all of her might and a ravenous cry, Mera lifted the driftwood and swung it as hard as she could. There was a satisfying thud as the wood connected with his skull. He cried out and rolled off of her. The ocean hissed its approval. Mera pushed herself out of the sand, her entire body beginning to tremble from the adrenaline.

“What the-”

Before the boy could even finish his sentence, Mera lifted the piece of wood again, bringing it down on his face with another shriek of rage.

“ _Remind him who you are, Mera._ ”  
  
Mera repeated the motion again, landing an attack against his ribs.

“Stop! The boy cried, lifting his hand to protect his face as Mera hit him again. Cry after cry, swing after swing, Mera brought the driftwood up and back down again, landing it square against the boy every single time.

“I am Mera,” she yelled, each word accompanied by a strike. “And you will remember my fury!”

“You bitch,” the boys spluttered, blood dribbling from his chin. Mera opened her mouth and a banshee like shriek came from her gut. She barely breathed as the shriek carried on, pounding the boy deeper and deeper into the sand even after he was unconscious.

“Mera!” someone somewhere in the darkness called, but Mera didn’t hear them. “Mera, where are you?”

She stepped away from the boy’s unconscious body, breath ragged. Her shirt was torn and covered in blood, her skirt also dyed crimson.

Gripping the wood in her hand, Mera turned toward the water.

“ _Look what you’ve done, Mera. You left us so that you would be_ better _. Does this look better to you?_ ”

Mera faced the water, refusing to look back at the bloody boy behind her. The water looked refreshing. If she just stepped inside, maybe wash the blood off of her own body, maybe then the hazy feeling would leave her completely.

“Mera!” Someone’s feet pounded against the sand behind her. She spun around quickly, lifting the driftwood to strike, baring her teeth as if they were still fangs. But it was just Rafe standing there, his eyes wide and worried. He skid to a stop, the sand flowering out around him. He put his hands up.

“Mera…” He looked over at the boy on the ground and then back at Mera, his eyes even wider than before. “What happened?”

“Mera!” Sarah came sprinting through the sand toward her, sliding to a stop just past Rafe. She looked at Mera’s clothes, looked down at her bloody hands, looked over at the boy, and understood completely. Her eyes were full of tears when she looked at Mera again. “You’re safe, Mera. We’re here.”

Kelce and Topper appeared behind Rafe and Sarah, looking just as worried as the Cameron siblings.

Mera flicked her eyes between all four of them, her heart thrumming in her chest.

“I...I can’t feel my hands,” Mera said, her voice breaking as tears of rage and fear dripped from her eyes.

“I know,” Sarah said, taking a step forward, her hands out in front of her. “I know how it feels. You’re going to be okay. Just put the wood down and come with me.”

Mera breathed raggedly, glancing over at Rafe. He looked a mess, his usually gelled hair tousled, his face red and sweaty. He breathed heavily like he had been running for hours. Then Mera looked over at the boy again, chills running up her spine.

“I...I did that to him,” she said.

“You did what you had to do,” Kelce said, his words laced with venom.

“We’ll take care of him,” Rafe assured her, his voice shaking but sure. “We’ll keep him around until the cops-”

“No!” Mera yelled suddenly, lifting the wood even higher. “No cops!”

“Okay.” Sarah stepped even closer. “No one will call the cops. Topper, tell everyone to go home now. I’m taking Mera inside. Kelce, Rafe, deal with him.”

Neither Rafe nor Kelce needed to be told twice. Topper ran back to the house. As Sarah got closer, Mera lowered the wood more and more, until Sarah slid it out of her grasp.

“You’re okay,” Sarah spoke slowly, wrapping her arm gently around Mera’s waist. “Let’s get you back to the house.”

Any amount of energy was draining from her system and her legs began to fel like jelly again. Sarah struggled to keep her standing, but she did her best.

“I can’t feel my hands,” Mera groaned, her eyes rolling back and forth. Her feet dragged across the ground, trying to take her own weight so Sarah didn’t have to struggle so much. But she had lost control of her body again and it felt impossible to take it back.

“It’s okay. You’re gonna be okay.”

Mera wasn’t sure she believed her friend.

Ten minutes later, Mera was curled up in the corner of Topper’s bathroom, still covered in blood, still out of control of her own body. The boy was still unconscious, tied up in the laundry room. Topper, Kelce, and Rafe stood in Topper’s bedroom, just outside the bathroom door, while Sarah crouched in front of Mera.

“Can I wash the blood off of you?” Sarah asked gently. Mera trembled as if she was frozen to her core, clinging to the pipes of the toilet like they were her only lifeline. Sarah let out a defeated sigh.

“What do we do?” Rafe asked in a whisper, crouching down even though he was still outside.

“The drug is still in her system. She needs to be somewhere safe and I don’t think that place is here.”

Rafe let out a heavy sigh.

“I’ll call John B.”

~~~

“Where is she? Where is Mera?”

The girl’s head finally perked up when she heard the sound of John B’s voice. Sarah stood up and turned, blocking the door as all four of the pogues poured into Topper’s room.

“She’s been drugged,” Sarah said quietly, but not quiet enough to avoid Mera’s ears. “She’s not really....all there right now.”

“The boy downstairs, did you do that to him?” Pope asked. Mera wasn’t sure who he was talking to, but it was Kelce who responded.

“No. She did.” There was a moment of silence.

“Let me see her.” That was JJ. Even through the warping of her hearing, she could recognize his voice.

“Back off,” said Rafe.

“How do I know it wasn’t you that dropped the pill in her drink, huh?”

“Enough!” Kie cried. “Will the two of you put aside your egos for three whole seconds and think about Mera,. Please?”

Mera lifted her head ever so slightly, just to see Kie standing in the doorway, making direct eye contact with Sarah. For a few moments, the two girls kept their gazes locked. Mera wasn’t sure exactly what they were saying, but they seemed to understand each other.

Sarah stepped back, giving Kie the space to walk toward Mera.

“Hi,” Kie said, lowering herself to the ground. “Do you want to go home?”

Mera heard her words, but she could barely register what she was saying. The tunnel sound had returned. Her head was spinning, her limbs so numb she couldn’t even feel where she was or how she was sitting. She squeezed her eyes shut so tight she didn’t know if she would ever be able to open them.

“My head,” Mera moaned.

“I know, I know.” Kie had tears in her eyes, just as desperate as Sarah had been. “What can I do to help you?”

“Did I kill him?” Mera asked, her eyes still shut. “I can smell his blood on me. Did I kill him?”

“The boy who attacked you?”

Mera nodded her head slowly, tears starting to run down her cheeks again. Kie looked back at Sarah.

“He’s alive,” Sarah told her. Mera nodded her head and let out a shaking breath.

“Is everyone still out there?” Mera whispered. “The boys, I mean.”

“Yeah, they’re out there,” Kie said. “They’re all worried about you.”

“Do you want me to ask them to leave?” Sarah asked.

Mera squeezed her eyes shut even tighter. That was too much thinking. She didn’t know if she wanted to leave. What reason did they have for staying? Why would they want to sit there and stare at her while she cried?

Sarah stood, walking back into Topper’s room.

“I need all of you out,” she said, her usually placid tone firm and demanding.

“No way!” JJ cried. “I want to see her.”

“She doesn’t want to see you.”

“Come on, dude,” Pope piped in. “Mera needs her space.”

The world swarmed in an array of black and bleakness. Her ears were ringnig and her chest was painfully heavy. She couldn’t feel anything, yet she could feel everything. She curled her hands tighter around the pipes, curling her knees up to her chest. She was half ready to empty her guts on the floor.

“Let’s get you into bed,” Kie said, shuffling closer. Mera ran her hands up her arms and bare legs, tracing the blood with her fingers.

“The...the blood.”

“We can change your clothes for you, Mera,” Sarah said softly with a smile. “We’ll take good care of you. You’re safe.”

Sarah and Kie, working together, got Mera off the bathroom floor and into Topper’s room. They gently removed her clothes, dressing her again in some of Sarah’s pajamas. It was a good thing Sarah spent so much time at Topper’s house. She always had clothes to lend out. The two girls helped wash as much blood off of Mera’s arms and legs as they could before helping her into bed.

“I don’t...want to be alone,” Mera said, struggling to keep herself awake. Kie and Sarah looked over at each other. It was eventually non-verbally decided that they would both stay. For one night, they would push away their hatred for each other to help Mera. After all, Kie had asked Rafe and JJ to do the same exact thing.

Kie crawled in on the back side of Mera, Sarah on the front. Kie curled her arms around Mera’s middle and Sarah put her arms over the both of them, holding Mera in a small ball of comfort and warmth. Once surrounded by the two of them, Mera finally broke down completely, sobs and tears never ending. Both girls held her even tighter. Sarah ran her fingers through Mera’s hair and Kie brushed butterfly kisses across her shoulder. They cuddled and coddled her until she fell asleep, the tears starting to dry on her cheeks.

~~~

She sat in the tub, letting the water cascade over her body. The water was warm, but she trembled all the same. Trails of blood snaked through the water like tiny rivers.

Sarah and Kie had brought her to the shower after she woke up a few hours later, hoping that she would wash the blood off, but Mera could still barely think straight. The affects of the drugs were still pounding through her system, even if she didn’t feel it as horribly as before. Her mind was still fuzzy and her limbs were stil tingling with numbness.

The blood was mostly scrubbed from her skin, but she was terrified of seeing everyone’s faces. She didn’t want to look at Kelce and remember how he had to carry the boy she had beaten half to death back into the house. She didn’t want to look Topper in the eye, knowing it was because of her that his birthday party had ended early. She didn’t want to look John B in the eye knowing that she was more of a problem than he had originally thought. She didn’t want to look at Pope and know that he had seen her covered in someone else’s blood.

And by God she didn’t want to have to look at JJ and Rafe and know that they had seen her at her lowest, completely out of control of her own body, her own thoughts.

“You’re gonna prune if you stay in there much longer,” Sarah’s gentle voice said to her from the other side of the shower door. Mera let out a sigh and buried her head in her arms. “I know it’s hard, but you can’t let him win.”

“He won nothing,” Mera snapped. “I got away before he could do anything.”

She could hear Sarah sigh, not knowing what else to say, Luckily, Kie standing right beside her with a healthy dosage of tough love.

“You got away, Mera, yeah. But now it’s time to get off your ass and show this douche that you are completely unbothered. Look him in the eyes and let him know that he didn’t break you.” Kie’s voice shook with what sounded like rage as she spoke.

Mera let out a shuddered breath.

“Is he still in the house?”

“The boys wanted to drop him into the ocean still tied up,” Sarah said. “It was probably the only thing they agreed on.”

“I would have let them,” said Kie. Mera almost managed a smile.

“Pope convinced them that becoming murderers wasn’t exactly the best way to help you,” Sarah told her, rolling her eyes at Kie. Both girls fell silent as Mera fell back into her thoughts.

 _Let him know that he didn’t break you._  
  
 _Remind him who you are, Mera._  
  
She let out one more calming breath before shutting off the shower. She pushed herself up carefully and pulled open the shower door. Sarah smiled at her, a big, goofy grin. It was almost enough to make Mera smile.

Her legs shook as she climbed out of the tub, but the numbness was almost completely gone. Kie offered her a hand to help, but Mera shook her head. She had to do this alone. The girls let her get dressed in privacy. Pulling on a fresh set of clean clothes surprisingly made her feel better, especially since it was a pair of Sarah’s sweats and one of Kie’s sweaters.

She emerged from the bathroom with a gentle smile. Sarah and Kie were sitting on the bed. It looked as if they had been talking quietly to one another. When she entered the room, they both stood.

“Thank you,” she said to them. Sarah shook her head, stepping forward and putting a gentle hand on Mera’s elbow.

“It was the least we could do. I should never have let you out of my sight, Mera. That’s on me and I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.” Mera’s voice cracked and she wagged her head before smiling again. “You were there when it mattered.”

Her words didn’t seem to hold much weight because when Sarah closed her eyes, a tear slid down her cheek. Lifting her hand, Mera brushed the tear away with the pad of her thumb.

“Let’s get you some food, yeah?”

Mera nodded her head and Sarah stepped back, taking in a calming breath.

Walking down the stairs to the bottom floor had seemed so easy last night compared to now. Before, all she was worried about was being in a large crowd of people for the first time in over 350 years. Now, she was terrified that her legs wouldn’t hold her, that despite all the strength that she felt in her soul, her body may not be able to carry her any longer. Not to mention she didn’t want to see any of the boys and their looks of pity or hear their apologies.

But she did it anyway. With one hand gripping the railing with all its strength, she took that first shaking step down the first stair. That was the hardest part. The rest would be easy. It wasn’t until she was half way down the stairs, Kie and Sarah a few steps behind her, that anyone in the living room noticed that she was there. It was Pope first. He pushed himself off the couch, earning attention from the others, and ran toward the stairs.

“How you doing?” He asked, standing at the bottom step with a hand out for her to take. She gave him her best smile but waved off his hand.

“Never better,” she told him. Pope smiled at her, letting his hand fall back to his side. By that time, the other boys had walked over, each with varying degrees of concern on their faces. Mera wanted to shrivel up like a barnacle and disappear, but she knew that she couldn’t. She had to face this head on.

“I want to see him,” she said, praying that her voice didn’t waver.

“Mera, is that a good idea?” Kelce asked. She nodded fervently and then glanced back at Kie, who dipped her head in agreement.

“He’s this way,” said Rafe. His usually stoic face was riddled with concern. She remembered what Kelce had said last night, about the things Rafe would do for those he cared about, and how that now included her.

“I’ll come with you,” John B said, stepping forward. Mera put up a hand.

“No, cos. I’ll be fine.”

“Mera-”

“You saw what I did to him last night, do you really think I would ever let him get anywhere near me again?”

It was an open ended question for anyone to answer. She looked at each one of them in turn and each one of them looked away from her, except JJ.

“Just call if you need help,” he said to her. She nodded shortly before turning to follow Rafe.

The boy from last night was stored in the closet. His hands were ziptied and his mouth was gagged. There were bruises all across his face and neck, his nose split across the bridge and his lip busted. Mera stared down at him apathetically.

“Wake up, fucko,” Rafe said, kicking the boy harshly in the leg. He startled awake, taking a few seconds to breathe rapidly before looking up at her. She watched his heart skip into his chest as he tried to scuttle away from her like a crab searching for shelter from a storm.

“Do you know who I am?” She asked, peering down at him. He nodded quickly. Mera lowered herself to the ground so she could look him in the face. His breathing was sporadic, uncontrolled. He was terrified. “Good. Now every time you even think about touching someone without their permission, every time you even think about putting something in someone’s drink, I want you to remember my face and I want you to remember what I did to you. Because I won’t let you live twice.”

From anyone else, the threat might have been vague, all bark and no bite. But Mera had killed for less. She had run a man through for so much as laying a hand on her shoulder when she didn’t want him to. This boy was lucky.

Rafe was shocked to hear the words come out of her mouth. Sure, she had a sharp tongue and she had punched him in the face when they first met, but he didn’t expect this from her. It was then that he realized that he didn’t really know the girl before him at all.

The boy’s eyes welled up with tears and she almost laughed.

“How pathetic,” she mused. “Only a coward would do what you did. You are a coward. And you will live with that title for the rest of your life, won’t you?”

He nodded his head again.

“I want to hear you say it.” She tore the gag from his mouth and he let out a series of coughs.

“Please don’t hurt me,” he begged.

“Say it then. What are you?”

“I...I’m a coward.”

She smiled, sickly and sweet, like she always did before she dragged a sailor down to his death.

“That’s right. Don’t forget it.”

She stood then, still staring down at him as he whimpered before her.

“What do you want me to do with him?” Rafe asked. Mera scoffed.

“Turn him loose. Let him live with his sins.”

With that, she turned on her heel and headed back toward the living room.

Everyone was talking quietly among themselves when she entered. They quieted and turned toward her.

“Right then,” she said and gave her usual careless smile. “What’s for breakfast?”


End file.
